Can't change DSC time offset

[sdb]

I was very excited about your new way of handling dates and especially time offsets, so I upgraded to v2023.  I'm using 2023.1.18.

I'm still trying to understand the new system but I am having problems in my testing.

To make it simple I am using an image with all the metadata stripped out and a single date (1 March 2023) added to Exif:DateTimeOriginal.  No time offset is present.

I used the File.DateTime mapping mode 2 (the default).

My current Windows time zone is Europe/London (+01:00, because of DST).

I add the file to the database and as expected VarToy shows:
File.DateTime.UTCOffset - +01:00
File.DateTime - 01/03/2023 12:00:00
File.DateTime.TZO - 01/03/2023 12:00:00+01:00
File.DateTime.Original - 01/03/2023 12:00:00
File.DateTime.UTC - 01/03/2023 11:00:00
File.DateTime.UTC.TZO - 01/03/2023 11:00:00Z
File.DateTime.Local - 01/03/2023 11:00:00
File.DateTime.Local.TZO - 01/03/2023 11:00:00+01:00
File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0 - 2023:03:01 12:00:00+01:00
File.MD.XMP::xmp\CreateDate\CreateDate\0 - 2023:03:01 12:00:00+01:00

This needs correcting because DST was not in effect on 1 March, so in the metadata panel I change +01:00 to +00:00 in File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0
I click the green tick, click the pencil icon to write back.  But the offset remains +01:00.  (In fact if I click back into the field after I click the green tick but before I write-back, I can see that the contents have gone back to +01:00)

This is weird, but then it gets weirder.

I change File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0 programmatically to +00:00 (using Python).  This results in VarToy showing:
File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0 - 2023:03:01 12:00:00+00:00
Hooray!
But in the metadata panel the date shown is
01/03/2023 12:00:00
And if I click in the field it shows
2023:03:01 12:00:00+01:00
!!
I can then change File.MD.XMP::photoshop\DateCreated\DateCreated\0 BACK to +01:00 by forcing a write-back.

Please can you help?

I don't know if this problem is related to the fix #01836 related to the feature of hiding offsets that match the local time zone (which incidentally is very much an unwanted feature for me - can I turn it off?) Or possibly #01790?

[Mario]

But in the metadata panel the date shown is
01/03/2023 12:00:00
And if I click in the field it shows
2023:03:01 12:00:00+01:00

If the time zone offset matches your local time zone, the MD panel suppresses the offset to improve readability.
No tzo => your time zone. See Time zone Offsets in the Metadata Panel

All the other stuff: Probably this is caused by some sort of check / automatic in the metadata panel triggered by you setting the offset to 00:00. I shall look into this.

If you set the time zone offset to something like +01:00 or -01:00 or +02:00, does this work?

[sdb]

If you set the time zone offset to something like +01:00 or -01:00 or +02:00, does this work?

Yes.  Looks like just +00:00 is rejected.

If the time zone offset matches your local time zone, the MD panel suppresses the offset to improve readability.

Yes I know.  This is causing other concerns - I'll raise a separate post about it.

[Mario]

Yes I know.  This is causing other concerns - I'll raise a separate post about it.

Feel free to add a feature request. But the current logic (no time zone offset displayed => in my local time zone) should work quite nicely for most users.

I have fixed the issue with the 00:00 time zone offset. A parsing / validation routine did not properly differentiate between no time zone offset and 0 time zone offset.

[sdb]

Thanks Mario.