Date/time tags and Time Zone Designators

A number of tags enable the communication of date/times with an optional Time Zone Designator (TZD). One such example is the MessageCreatedDateTime in the MessageHeader of the various XML messages.

The format for these tags is based on the “extended format" as defined ISO 8601 and comprises the following elements:

  • The date, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, in the form yyyy-mm-dd with

    • yyyy being a four-digit number representing the year (with leading zeros as required);

    • mm being a two-digit number representing the month (with leading zeros as required);

    • dd being a two-digit number representing the day (with leading zeros as required);

  • The uppercase letter T;

  • The time in the form hh:mm:ss[.ff][TDZ], with

    • hh being a two-digit number representing the hour of a 24-hour clock (with leading zeros as required);

    • mm being a two-digit number representing the minute (with leading zeros as required);

    • ss being a two-digit number representing the second (with leading zeros as required);

    • ff being an optional 1-to-12 digit number that represents fractional seconds; and

    • TZD being an optional Time Zone Designator, expressed in one of the following formats:

      • +hh:mm being an offset in hours and minutes ahead of UTC;

      • -hh:mm being an offset in hours and minutes behind UTC;

      • Z being a shortcut for "Zulu time" or +00:00.

The absence of a TZD indicates local time of the message sender (see also here).

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