1726077 - vCard dates incorrectly translated from UTC to local time

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(MailNews Core :: Address Book, defect, P1)

Description

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

When a date in a vCard (e.g. 2021-08-17) is parsed, it is correctly assumed to be in UTC (17 Aug 2021 00:00), but then local date values are read from it. That's not a problem if the local date matches the UTC date (17 Aug 2021 12:00 Pacific/Auckland, so still the 17th) but where it doesn't (16 Aug 2021 19:00 America/Chicago, not the 17th) we've got a problem.

We store date values as address book card properties, so even if we fix this and even though we have the correct vCard stored, the user will still be displayed the wrong date and if they save the card the wrong date will be propagated.

Fixing the problem itself is easy. I'm wondering if I can and/or should trigger a reparsing of all cards for which vCard data is stored. Leaning towards "no".

Comment 1

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

The other problem I have thought of is, AFAIK, this is impossible to have an automated test for. I can test it manually by setting environment variables, but I don't think I can do that on the CI.

Comment 2

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

Attachment: Bug 1726077 - Correctly parse vCard date values in all time zones. r=mkmelin!

Comment 3

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/1764da179451
Correctly parse vCard date values in all time zones. r=mkmelin

Comment 4

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

Comment on attachment 9236562 [details]
Bug 1726077 - Correctly parse vCard date values in all time zones. r=mkmelin!

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #):
User impact if declined: Thunderbird changes the value of birthdays and anniversaries every time a contact is edited
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): on c-c since last week, although there's been no Linux/Windows nightlies since then
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): low

Comment 5

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Comment on attachment 9236562 [details]
Bug 1726077 - Correctly parse vCard date values in all time zones. r=mkmelin!

[Triage Comment]
Approved for beta

Comment 6

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 92.0b3:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-beta/rev/0405b7c402a8

Comment 7

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

Comment on attachment 9236562 [details]
Bug 1726077 - Correctly parse vCard date values in all time zones. r=mkmelin!

[Approval Request Comment]
Regression caused by (bug #):
User impact if declined: Thunderbird changes the value of birthdays and anniversaries every time a contact is edited
Testing completed (on c-c, etc.): in 92.0b3
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): low

Comment 8

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Comment on attachment 9236562 [details]
Bug 1726077 - Correctly parse vCard date values in all time zones. r=mkmelin!

[Triage Comment]
Approved for esr91

Comment 9

[Rob Lemley [:rjl]]

Thunderbird 91.1.1:
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/comm-esr91/rev/67d8b57ef5dc