lonewolf

Thanks for the prompt reply on my inquiry.

The application is similar to a custom-built online forum which has the capacity to function like a simple content management system for a technical support group.

An overview on how the application works is as follows:

A registered client logs into the application in order to post inquiries or issues regarding the proprietary hardware / software that they have purchased.

When the client logged in successfully, he will be presented different forms in order to provide some details on the nature of the incident (inquiries / issues).

Once the appropriate form has been filled up, it will be submitted to the application which in return, retrieves the server’s system clock (date and time) using the now() function to serve as the incident’s date / time stamp before it will be saved on an appropriate database table (with DATETIME type fields).

After this, the application then notifies the tech support group via email which in return, they will log into the application to view and respond to the new incident.

During the process of solving the incident, the date & time stamp as well as the contents of the exchanged messages between the client and the support group will be stored on a separate table.

When the incident is solved, the application will label the incident as a closed case. This process is repeated for each new incident(s) posted by the client.


To further illustrate my concern in my recent post, let me cite an example scenario.

Hypothetically, let’s say that the support group’s daylight savings will end at 3:00 PM (today) and their current local time is 2:00 PM (DST - daylight savings time).

Somewhere between 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, new incidents have been posted by several clients while the support group have resolved or closed a few incidents as well.

When 3:00 PM (DST) arrives, the local time will transition from daylight savings to standard time, effectively moving the server’s system clock back to 2:00 PM.

Now at 2:00 PM (standard time), if a client or several clients submits a new batch of incidents, will these new set of data (or incidents) overwrite those that are already stored in the database during the daylight savings time's last hour?

This is based on the assumption that some of the new incidents (if not all) will have an identical date/time stamp with those that are already stored.