Time zone

What it is

Time zone is a format of the Whole Number column. The form shows a drop-down of zone names with their offset, such as "(GMT+01:00) Brussels, ...", instead of a number. The value saved is a time zone code. For example, "(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)" is stored as 4.

When to use it

Use it to record where a person, site or meeting is. It does not change how other date columns display. That depends on each user's own time zone in Personalization settings and on the Date and time behaviour of the column.

Licensing and configuration

No extra licence. Create a Whole Number column and set its Format to Time Zone in the table designer. The form uses the list of zones for you. You cannot edit the list.

Pitfalls

• Model-driven apps show the zone names, but canvas apps and many exports show only the stored code.
• The code is a Dataverse time zone code, not an IANA name such as Europe/Brussels. Mapping needs a lookup table.
• The column does not convert any date. It only stores a choice.
• Do not confuse it with the time zone of the user. That is set per user in Personalization settings.

Try it in the demo

1. Open the first accelerator and find the Time zone field.
2. Open the list and pick a zone with a different offset.
3. Open Personalization settings in the gear menu and compare it with your own time zone setting.