Question

What is the standard terminology and syntax for dates in FME?

Answer

There isn't really a standard terminology for dates in FME. However, FME uses TCL for data formating dates and these transformers (DateFormatter, TimeStamper) use standard TCL syntax for dates (and times) for example:

yyyymmdd
hhmmss[.x+][(+/-)zz]
yyyymmddhhmmss[.x+][(+/-)zz]

Where...
  • yyyy is the year in 4 digits, eg 2006
  • mm is the month number, eg 07 for July
  • dd is the day of the month, eg 21
  • hh is the hour (24 hour clock - eg 14 for 2pm)
  • mm is the number of minutes
  • ss is the number of seconds
  • [.x+] is the optional fraction of a second, represented by one or more digits
  • [(+/-)zz] is the optional timezone (compared to GMT, so -08 is Pacific Time Zone PST)


For example, the time I'm writing this (08:37:10, 8 Sep 2006 (PDT)) is...

20060908083710.000-08


The detailed syntax for time/date formating can be found on the DataFormatter help.

Database Dates:
Database date type fields have very specific date/time syntax. For more on this go here.