# Using msg.ui\_control to apply timezone offset to datetime object in ui-table
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919
**Category:** Dashboard
**Tags:** node-red-dashboard
**Created:** [1 March 2023 09:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919 "2023-03-01T09:35:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@scrambled](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/scrambled)
#### Post date: [1 March 2023 09:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919/1 "2023-03-01T09:35:51Z")
Hello,
I am a Node-RED and JS newbie that would greatly appreciate some assistance on a dashboard issue I am trying to solve.
I have some timestamps stored as UTC datetime objects that I would like to show in a ui-table column. [This thread](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/solved-how-to-change-timestamps-in-objects-to-date-time-for-ui-table/28289) helped me apply my desired formatting to show in the table, but I cannot seem to get timezone offsetting to work. I can apply timezone offset using JSONata expressions, but not sure if there is a way to embed that into the msg.ui\_control JSON. I have tried adding a "timezone" parameter to no avail:
```auto
{
"tabulator": {
"columns": [
{
"formatter": "datetime",
"formatterParams": {
"inputFormat": "x",
"outputFormat": "DD. MMMM YYYY hh:mm:ss",
"invalidPlaceholder": "(invalid date)",
"timezone": "Australia/Brisbane"
},
"title": "Last Seen",
"field": "last_seen"
}
]
}
}
```
The tabulator [documentation](https://tabulator.info/docs/5.4/format#formatter-datetime) says the luxon.js library is required for date/time formatting but it seems the output formatting works with the built-in moment.js features. I am hoping there is a way to do the same for timezone offsets?
Thanks
---
### Author:  [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)
#### Post date: [1 March 2023 10:06 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919/2 "2023-03-01T10:06:45Z")
As I understand it, moment will convert UTC timestamps to the local of the browser running it. The idea is that a timestamp right now would display in my timezone (America/New\_York) but on your device it would use your timezone "Australia/Brisbane".
Remember, formatting the output is different than converting it to a different time zone. If you want it to display in a different timezone then yes, you will have to do what the tabulator documentation requires.
---
### Author:  [@scrambled](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/scrambled)
#### Post date: [1 March 2023 11:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919/3 "2023-03-01T11:38:46Z")
Thanks, I see...
> [@zenofmud](#):
>
> Remember, formatting the output is different than converting it to a different time zone. If you want it to display in a different timezone then yes, you will have to do what the tabulator documentation requires.
Would this be a matter of installing luxon.js and importing it via `functionGlobalContext` in settings.js? I note that usually you would need to then do a `global.get()` in a function node, but since the dependency is in the ui-table node, how would that work?
---
### Author:  [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)
#### Post date: [1 March 2023 11:42 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919/4 "2023-03-01T11:42:32Z")
> [@scrambled](#):
>
> Would this be a matter of installing luxon.js and importing it via `functionGlobalContext` in settings.js?
I don't know since I've never done it. Give it a try and see what happens
---
### Author:  [@scrambled](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/scrambled)
#### Post date: [2 March 2023 01:13 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919/5 "2023-03-02T01:13:00Z")
Okay, I gave it a go. I was able call luxon functions in a function node by invoking the global context variable but unfortunately I cannot get ui-table itself to pick it up for applying timezone offsets. I tried using the `formatterParams` timezone parameter specified in the tabulator documentation and also tried calling luxon in a custom formatter function using `global.get()`. Neither seem to work and doing the latter actually breaks the entire ui\_control message.
The (kind of annoying) workaround I have at the moment is to store my datetime in local time and convert it back to UTC when I need to pass it to somewhere else that is expecting UTC.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [1 April 2023 01:13 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/using-msg-ui-control-to-apply-timezone-offset-to-datetime-object-in-ui-table/75919/6 "2023-04-01T01:13:42Z")
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