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CIF Date and Time

Many CIF data items take as value a date or a date and time (e.g. _audit_creation_date) or may include a date/time string as part of their expected content (e.g. _audit_update_record). The convention for expressing a date/time string is as follows, and is consistent with the ISO standard ISO 8601:1988(E). A unique instant in time may be defined by concatenating and optionally Depending on the required precision of the date/time, the full string may be truncated from the right as appropriate.

Examples

1997-08-12T13:55:58-05:00
Four minutes and two seconds before two o'clock on the afternoon of 12 August 1997, at the latitude of Hamilton, Ontario (corresponding to supper time at Greenwich).
1997-08-12T13:55:58+05:45
Four minutes and two seconds before two o'clock on the afternoon of 12 August 1997, at the latitude of Kathmandu, Nepal
1997-08-12T13:55:58
Four minutes and two seconds before two o'clock on the afternoon of 12 August 1997, local time
1997-08-12T13:55
Five minutes to two, afternoon of 12 August 1997
1997-08-12
12 August 1997

Updated 12 August 1997

Copyright © 1997 International Union of Crystallography

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