Date and Time formats in Content Manager OnDemand

Introduction

One of the most important field types in IBM Content Manager OnDemand is Date (and Time) formats. Timestamps appear in various locations in IBM CMOD -- Load IDs, the Segment Table, etc. There has been a slow evolution of date and time stamps, culminating with a switch to timestamp formats that are native to the various databases that OnDemand supports. This article will explain the historical time formats, describe how to convert them in a variety of ways, and demonstrate how you can use IBM CMOD date formats for special reports.

History

In the early 1990's when IBM CMOD was developed, two facts necessitated the IBM Content Manager OnDemand developers to use their own date formats: The high cost of data storage, and the lack of date and/or time formats in the database engines that were supported by OnDemand.