DTSTAMP

DTSTAMP, short for "Date-Time Stamp," is a standard property used in the iCalendar (RFC 5545) format to indicate the date and time at which an instance of a calendar component was created or last modified. This property is essential for synchronization and version control in calendar systems, ensuring that all participants in a calendar event or task have the most up-to-date information.

The DTSTAMP property is typically included in all calendar components, such as VEVENT, VTODO, VJOURNAL, and VFREEBUSY. It is formatted as a date-time value, which can be either in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) or in a local time zone. The format follows the ISO 8601 standard, which is widely used for date and time representation.

For example, a DTSTAMP property might look like this:

DTSTAMP:20231005T143000Z

This indicates that the calendar component was created or last modified on October 5, 2023, at 14:30:00 UTC.

In the context of calendar synchronization, the DTSTAMP property helps to determine which version of a calendar component is the most recent. When two or more participants have different versions of the same calendar component, the one with the later DTSTAMP value is considered the more recent version.

Overall, the DTSTAMP property plays a crucial role in maintaining the accuracy and consistency of calendar data across different systems and users.