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[VCARDDAV] Format of various date fields
Hi,
One recurring issue with mobile device implementations is trying to keep the
processing simple when converting from the vCard format into the native data
format (and back). Things like "BDAY;VALUE=text:circa 1800", and in fact,
any variations at all (such as 1996-08-11T12:34:56Z vs. 19960811T123456Z)
make this more difficult.
For mobile devices (and simplicity of implementation in general), it would
help if a single format were adopted (at least at the SHOULD level, to allow
for users hand editing fields), rather than leaving things wide-open. Note
that I don't especially care what format is adopted, just that as few as
possible formats are allowed.
Note that there are a number of ways possible to allow for the equivalent
information to be conveyed:
For example:
1) Unknown values could be explicitly referenced with unique values, such as
"x" (or 0, or whatever). Therefore a birthday withFrom vcarddav-bounces at ietf.org Wed May 7 19:04:34 2008
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From: "Darryl Champagne" <dgc at funambol.com>
To: <vcarddav at ietf.org>
References: <20080409163001.E0B343A6D32 at core3.amsl.com><48048A9A.4080204 at viagenie.ca><028801c89f5f$e85679b0$6e02a8c0 at DGCSonyFS><200804161541.33342.simon.perreault at viagenie.ca>
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Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 22:04:19 -0400
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Subject: [VCARDDAV] Format of various date fields
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Hi,
One recurring issue with mobile device implementations is trying to keep the
processing simple when converting from the vCard format into the native data
format (and back). Things like "BDAY;VALUE=text:circa 1800", and in fact,
any variations at all (such as 1996-08-11T12:34:56Z vs. 19960811T123456Z)
make this more difficult.
For mobile devices (and simplicity of implementation in general), it would
help if a single format were adopted (at least at the SHOULD level, to allow
for users hand editing fields), rather than leaving things wide-open. Note
that I don't especially care what format is adopted, just that as few as
possible formats are allowed.
Note that there are a number of ways possible to allow for the equivalent
information to be conveyed:
For example:
1) Unknown values could be explicitly referenced with unique values, such as
"x" (or 0, or whatever). Therefore a birthday with an unkn an unknown year could be
represented by "xxxx-06-16"
2) Ranges of values could be explicitly allowed - "Circa 1800" is roughly
equivalent to "1800-01-01 +- 0100-01-01" or "1800-xx-xx +- 0050-xx-xx" (the
year 1800 plus or minus 50 years) or "1750-xx-xx - 1850-xx-xx".
Again - I do not care which format is selected, but I am trying to point out
that exactly specified formats would be much easier to deal with in the
mobile world than nearly freeform text, and also would work better for
comparison purposes (e.g. if during a Sync I am comparing 1800+-50 years
from one side, and 1820 from the other, I can reasonable choose the 1820
value, but I am unlikely to know how to deal with "circa" or "~" or "just
before", but any user interface that allows circa can easily pick a
reasonable range).
Thanks,
dgc
--
Darryl G. Champagne
Technology Evangelist
Funambol
OMA-DS Vice Chair
dgc at funambol.com http://www.funambol.com
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VCARDDAV mailing list
VCARDDAV at ietf.org
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own year could be
represented by "xxxx-06-16"
2) Ranges of values could be explicitly allowed - "Circa 1800" is roughly
equivalent to "1800-01-01 +- 0100-01-01" or "1800-xx-xx +- 0050-xx-xx" (the
year 1800 plus or minus 50 years) or "1750-xx-xx - 1850-xx-xx".
Again - I do not care which format is selected, but I am trying to point out
that exactly specified formats would be much easier to deal with in the
mobile world than nearly freeform text, and also would work better for
comparison purposes (e.g. if during a Sync I am comparing 1800+-50 years
from one side, and 1820 from the other, I can reasonable choose the 1820
value, but I am unlikely to know how to deal with "circa" or "~" or "just
before", but any user interface that allows circa can easily pick a
reasonable range).
Thanks,
dgc
--
Darryl G. Champagne
Technology Evangelist
Funambol
OMA-DS Vice Chair
dgc at funambol.com http://www.funambol.com
_______________________________________________
VCARDDAV mailing list
VCARDDAV at ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/vcarddav