GeoNames Forum

I searched the forums, and posted a similiar question previously; it seems there's never been a clear answer to the following question:

How could one go about creating a timezone database similar to the one that geonames uses? one that can be queried by lat&lon and retrieve the appropriate timezone.

Im *guessing* this will involve importing some form of shapefile(s) into a SQL database that can handle spatial data, and then running point queries to see within what polygon (timezone) the points lay. Is this correct? More advice/recommendations on how to set this up would be greatly appreciated...

Or, better yet, are there any plans to publicly release the geonames timezone database software/data?

Please help....

I simply took the geoname database and do a nearest neighbor search on it to find the closest record by lat/lon. The record contains the timezone ID.

thanks for the reply.
What I need to do is create my own timezone database for use with our intranet application. So, unfortunately, I cannot use the public geonames webservice.

Geonames administrators, can you please provide some feedback?

I still havent received a reply from the geonames admins.
so, I guess I'll keep bumping this message until I do...
Please help,
Thanks,

It is not planed for the foreseable future to release anything that is not in the focus of the project. I hardly manage to find enough time for the important stuff related to the focus of the project (a gazetteer) and definitely don't have the time for other things.

Best

Marc

I understand that you presently do not have the time to prepare the timezone database sourcecode for public release.

I am willing to create the database myself.
I just need some more info on the method(s) used to create the timezone database, so that I can build it myself.

Were shapefiles with timezone data imported into a database? How could I go about creating such a database?

Please help.....

never received a response to my last question:
again, I would appreciate some simple help & guidance on how to to setup my own timezone database, using publicly-accessible data in shapefile format, or some other format.

I just need some basic, productive tips to get me started; I can generate the code myself, so Im not asking geonames to 'reveal its secrets'...

Hi
I need to setup such a timezone database too, for personal use, and would appreciate any help.
Thanks