ISO 8601:2004 standard
Data elements and interchange formats -- Information interchange -- Representation of dates and times
Abstract
ISO 8601:2004 is applicable whenever representation of dates in the Gregorian calendar, times in the 24-hour timekeeping system, time intervals and recurring time intervals or of the formats of these representations are included in information interchange. It includes
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calendar dates expressed in terms of calendar year, calendar month and calendar day of the month;
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ordinal dates expressed in terms of calendar year and calendar day of the year;
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week dates expressed in terms of calendar year, calendar week number and calendar day of the week;
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local time based upon the 24-hour timekeeping system;
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Coordinated Universal Time of day;
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local time and the difference from Coordinated Universal Time;
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combination of date and time of day;
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time intervals;
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recurring time intervals.
ISO 8601:2004 does not cover dates and times where words are used in the representation and dates and times where characters are not used in the representation.
ISO 8601:2004 does not assign any particular meaning or interpretation to any data element that uses representations in accordance with ISO 8601:2004. Such meaning will be determined by the context of the application.