MEP	5
Title	Use ISO8601 for date and time formatting
Status	Accepted
Created	2014-11-17
Author	Lucas Betschart

Use ISO8601 for date and time formatting

Abstract

This MEP is about using ISO8601 for date and time formatting instead of UNIX timestamps everywhere (in contracts, log, messages). Source: https://github.com/monetas/opentxs-protocol/issues/87

Current status

Open-Transactions currently uses UNIX timestamps to format time in all contracts.

Drawbacks

UNIX timestamps are not human readable, which is a requirement for Ricardian contracts. Contracts must be readable by a human judge with no technical knowledge.

Enhancement

Replace UNIX timestamps with ISO8601: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601 Example ISO8601 Date-Time: 2007-04-05T14:30

Impact

No impact in the logic, as the timestamps are only used for humans reviewing a contract at the moment.

This is hardly more difficult than a search and replace operation. This needs changes in the C++ client implementation.