Use cases are provided to help choose an approach that ensures that geographically distributed applications work well with date and time values. This document contains guidelines and best practices for working with time and time zones in applications and document formats. One of these complexities in working with time-related data is the effect of time zone on the data.
Working with time-related data can be complex because values are related to calendars and timekeeping rules, which themselves may be somewhat arcane. One common requirement for applications is the need to deal with dates, times, or durations. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. This document was produced by a group operating under the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than a Working Group Note, which is not an endorsed W3C Recommendation. Therefore, quotes or references to specific information in the document should include the publication date of this version, 05 July 2011. This document may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. Publication as a Working Group Note does not imply endorsement by the W3C Membership. Please send comments on this document to ( publicly archived). It has been produced by the i18n Core Working Group, which is part of the Internationalization Activity. This document is a W3C Working Group Note. Use cases are provided to help choose an approach that ensures that geographically distributed applications work well. The working group has updated this document to contain more comprehensive guidelines and best practices for working with time and time zones in applications and document formats. This document aims to provide a basic understanding and vocabulary for talking about time and time handling in software. Date and time values can be complex and the relationship between computer and human timekeeping systems can lead to problems. This document contains best practices and user scenarios for working with time zones. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication.