Getting Started

    This dialog box allows you to specify all the information used to identify a city. The window is divided into three sections, each of which is described below.

    Atlas Top

    Name and Location

    The upper left section is used to specify the city's name and country as well as its geographical location. The city and country names may contain up to 32 characters each.

    Time Zone and Weather Station

    The upper right section is used to specify the city's time zone and assign a weather station. Use the fields as follows:

    Time Offset from GMT
    This allows you to specify the city's time zone by entering the number of hours ahead of, or behind, Greenwich Mean Time. Always enter the time difference that exists during Standard Time, not Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time). Remember to enter + or - and then hours and minutes. Some examples: New York: -5:00 / Tehran: +3:30 / Rome +1:00.

    Standard Time Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation (up to four characters) to be used during standard time, such as PST for Pacific Standard Time.

    Daylight Time Abbreviation
    Enter an abbreviation (up to four characters) to be used during daylight saving time (Summer time), such as PDT for Pacific Daylight Time.

    Weather Station Identifier
    Enter the four character ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) code of a weather station. These can be looked up on the NOAA website by choosing "Lookup Weather Stations..." (Cmd-L) from the Edit menu. Some examples: KSFO (San Francisco, USA), UGGG (Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia).

    Note that the weather IDs are not currently used by EarthDesk, but the database shares the same format as Time Palette, which does use weather data.

    Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time)

    If the city moves its clocks forward during the summer months, this section needs to be filled out. There are three different methods used to determine the dates on which the switchovers take place.

    Method One: Fixed Day
    A specific date such as March 31. Use the right-most menu to specify a date of the month, and the month menu to specify a month.

    Method Two: Relative Date
    A date such as "The First Sunday in April" or "The Last Sunday in October." Use the left-most menu to specify a weekday and week number and the month menu to set the month. This is the most common method used throughout the world.

    Note: If the week number is set to "First," leave the date menu set to "1st," otherwise this will become method 3 (see below). If the week number is "Second," "Third," "Fourth" or "Last," the date menu will be hidden, as it is not used.

    Method Three: Relative Date After a Given Day
    This is the same as method two except it adds a condition that the date be at least a certain date. For example: "The First Sunday in March on or after the 11th." In this method the week is always the "First."

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