UTCTimestamp fields represent a date/time in the UTC timezone. There are 2 valid formats:
With the sections of the format defined below
| Code | Meaning | Valid range |
|---|---|---|
| yyyy | Year | 0000-9999 |
| MM | Month of year | 01-12 |
| dd | Day of month | 01-31 |
| HH | Hour of day | 00-23 |
| mm | Minute of hour | 00-59 |
| ss | Second of minute | 00-60 (60 only if UTC leap second) |
| SSS | Fractions of seconds |
The fractions of seconds, including the period, may be omitted. The fraction may include 3 digits to convey milliseconds, 6 digits to convey microseconds, 9 digits to convey nanoseconds, 12 digits to convey picoseconds; Other number of digits may be used with bilateral agreement.
Note that UTC includes corrections for leap seconds, which are inserted to account for slowing of the rotation of the earth. Leap second insertion is declared by the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) and has, since 1972, only occurred on the night of 31st December or 30th June. The IERS considers 31st March and 30th September as secondary dates for leap second insertion, but has never utilized these dates.
For example, during a leap second insertion, a UTCTimestamp field may read “19981231-23:59:59”, “19981231-23:59:60”, “19990101-00:00:00”.
| Example | Valid | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 20240102-01:02:03 | ||
| 20240102-01:02:03.444 | ||
| 2024010201:02:03.444 | Literal dash omitted | |
| 20240102-010203.444 | Literal colons omitted |