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by SonicScrub 710 days ago
Leap seconds are a problem because I have to deal with existing systems that use leap seconds and those that do not. Getting those systems in sync can be pain sometimes because of conversion from one format to another. Is it insurmountable? No. Is it annoying? Yes. Does it occasionally cause bugs that waste time and resources? Absolutely.

I'd love to snap my fingers and make everyone use TAI, but unfortunately I'm stuck with UTC, GPS and TAI depending on sources.
1 comments
gmiller123456 709 days ago
Why are you trying to sync systems that use leap seconds and ones that don't? It sounds like you've invented your own time system.
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SonicScrub 708 days ago
Time aligning GPS data with other sensors/systems that record in UTC. I'm combining data from multiple different sources together that I do not control. The duration of the data is long enough that an occasional leap second slips in and offsets things.
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gmiller123456 708 days ago
So, you just need to set up a scheduled task to download the leap seconds file from the IERS once every six months?
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SonicScrub 707 days ago
The codebase does pretty much exactly that, yes. Still causes the occasional hiccup though when new data is inevitably not labelled appropriately.

Not exactly the kind of thing that causes catastrophic failure. More so the kind of thing that periodically pops up to be annoying.

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gmiller123456 704 days ago
Ok, so it's not "keeping them in sync" as you stated in your first post, it's not a "leap second sneaking in" as in your second post. Now it is somehow data that is not labeled, and only becomes a problem during leap seconds. I'm sure you can see how changing your story and lack of details would make someone skeptical that the problem even exists.

If there really is a problem I'm really interested in hearing what it is. But it doesn't sound like you plan to be straight forward about explaining it.

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