date() function doesn't automatically pick up TZ environment variable.

Good day, I'm experiencing an odd issue with the PHP date() function not using the appropriate time zone variable unless I explicitly set it in the code. I am not totally sure it is a bug, because perhaps I am not doing something in my PHP configuration to make TZ automatically available, but please read on and alert me to my error if so. :) I am setting the TZ environment variable from my Apache server configuration file, and it *is* getting set. I can access it with both getenv("TZ") and $TZ (when globals are registered On). However, the date() function ignores it until I do the following: putenv("TZ=" . getenv("TZ")); ...which seems ludicrous, because doesn't the above just say: "set the environment variable TZ to the value of the environment variable TZ" ? Or else, am I missing some means of making TZ automatically set in the PHP $_ENV array that using getenv() in this way somehow alleviates ? This workaround works, but it's not really a solution, as I would have to do it in EVERY PHP script that uses this particular time zone, and at that point I may as well be setting it by hand. Does anyone have any knowledge on this problem? I am using Apache 2.0, with PHP 4.2.2. (I did check the Changelog between 4.2.2 and the most recent release, and I didn't see any mention of this problem, either specific to date() or TZ.) Any help would be tremendously appreciated. Best wishes, John Worsley. -- John C Worsley | Lead Programmer / Web Developer, Command Prompt, Inc. (503) 222-2783 | jlx@commandprompt.com | webmaster@thelinuxreview.com TheLinuxReview | News for Linux Users | http://www.thelinuxreview.com