getTimezoneOffset Method

Description

Returns the difference in minutes between the time on the host computer and Universal Coordinated Time (UTC).

Syntax

objDate.getTimezoneOffset()

Remarks

The getTimezoneOffset method returns an integer value representing the number of minutes between the time on the current machine and UTC. These values are appropriate to the computer the script is executed on. If it is called from a server script, the return value is appropriate to the server. If it is called from a client script, the return value is appropriate to the client.

This number will be positive if you are behind UTC (e.g., Pacific Daylight Time), and negative if you are ahead of UTC (e.g., Japan).

For example, suppose a server in New York City is contacted by a client in Los Angeles on December 1. getTimezoneOffset returns 480 if executed on the client, or 300 if executed on the server.

The following example illustrates the use of the getTimezoneOffset method:

function TZDemo()
{
  var d, tz, s = "The current local time is ";
  d = new Date();
  tz = d.getTimezoneOffset();
  if (tz < 0)
    s += tz / 60 + " hours before GMT";
  else if (tz == 0)
    s += "GMT";
  else
    s += tz / 60 + " hours after GMT";
  return(s);
}