Since April 7, when many users moved their clocks ahead for the start of Daylight Savings Time, Navigator 2.0 has failed to properly display the most current version of recently changed web documents.

The browser incorrectly displays recently changed website files, and sites that display up-to-the-minute information are delayed at least one hour.

This anomaly is experienced in all platforms except the Apple Macintosh.

Navigator normally caches each page visited, and when a previously-cached page is requested, Navigator checks the host computer's file date/time, compares it to the cached file date/time, and displays the most current version. Commonly, this should result in the cached file's being displayed, if the cached file is truly more recent..

However, when testing a page that is under construction or a website that posts very current information, the cached file may be misunderstood by Navigator 2.0 to be newer than the host computer's file, which actually is more current.

Netscape Communications has not yet commented on this bug.

Windows users may work around the difficulty by inserting the following environment variable setting into the Autoexec.bat file and rebooting the system:

SET TZ=EDT4 (or CDT5 for Central Daylight Time, MDT6 for Mountain Daylight Time, or PDT7 for Pacific Daylight Time, etc.)

Other solutions include:

1. Setting Navigator's disk cache to zero (0) under "Network Preferences"; however, this may result in increased display time for a frequently visited site as the information will not be cached on a local disk,

2. Using the "Network Preferences" to clear the disk cache before reloading an updated page; however, this also will result in increased display time when re-viewing a page, and

3. Setting the computer's internal clock back one hour to Standard Time; however, this will time stamp all files with the incorrect time and possibly the incorrect date.

As a Netscape-fix becomes available, ITINFO will post more information.

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ITINFO is an electronic publication of Damar Group, Ltd., publisher of Training Express computer learning guides. Comments and submissions to info@dgl.com.

Previous issues are on our website at dgl.com/dglinfo.

updated April 16, 1996
http://dgl.com/dglinfo/1996/dg960416.html

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