MySQL Forums :: General :: Storing timezone with datetime

Hello,

I have some datetime fields. I would like to store the timezone with the datetime. Yes, it's possible to set a session-wide or system-wide timezone; I don't want to do that. I want to make it possible for different records to have different timezones, and I want to make the datetime fields independent of the session-wide or system-wide timezone.

I see 2 ways to store the timezone.

(1) create an additional field which stores just the timezone (as an offset or timezone name)

(2) store a string which specifies timezone e.g. ISO 8601 style '2009-06-26 12:33:00-0600'

I'd rather just store the timezone in the datetime field, but I don't see a way to do it. Do I understand correctly that the timezone cannot be stored in a datetime field? I hope I'm mistaken. If indeed it is possible, please explain how to do it.

Sorry if this is a FAQ, I couldn't find an answer to this specific question.

Thanks very much for any light you can shed on this problem.

Robert Dodier