opinion on international date standards (kinda long)

[John Posada <JOHN -dot- POSADA -at- EY -dot- COM>]

Hey, guys...

One of my applications developers posed a question regarding formatting of date
for international use.  I'm quoting the question as I received it, so "maybe"
some of the language is geared toward inhouse usage.
---
Questions regarding the proper format to use in displaying date fields have
surfaced recently in a number of projects.  The issue revolves around the fact
that the format typically used in the US is

"06/07/97", which is understood to mean "June 7, 1997"

whereas the same format, when interpreted by the rest of the world (correct me
on this if I'm wrong),

"06/07/97" is understood to mean "July 6, 1997"

We cannot control the behaviour of the date field at input time - the date is
apparently formatted for input based on the Language selected by the server on
which the application resides, so the native format to the user is what is
applied - which is fine.  However, we can consider adopting a standard approach
to displaying date fields in columns and on forms once they have been saved in
order to clarify the meaning to those outside of the US.  Two suggestions have
been made to me over the last few weeks and I am interested in receiving
comments and feedback on both.

1)  Spell out the format, so that "06/07/97" would appear as June 7, 1997

2)  Use a UNIX based format, so that "06/07/97" would appear as 07 Jun 1997

I prefer the later but am up for suggestions on this one, particularly if
anyone is aware of an common international standard that we could adopt (i.e.
is there any document or reference that we could cite to back up our
decision).  If we can identify something, we would include this in the Best
Practices section of the documentation, not in the Standards section, because
there are circumstances in which the typical US format would be OK for systems
in the US, but we would like to make it clear what is needed for systems to be
understandable internationally.

You may chose to respond to me off-list if you don't think the answer wil be
applicable to other readers (e.g., send me a copy of the response when you get
it), or on-list if you believe the answer is constructive.

John Posada
Ernst & Young
Tactical Applications Group
Lyndhurst, NJ
john -dot- posada -at- ey -dot- com (work)
john -at- tdandw -dot- com (personal)
http://www.ey.com (work)
http://www.tdandw.com (personal)
(201) 842-2699

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment.  It's the impurities in our
air and water that are doing it."
  - Vice President Dan Quayle

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html