DTSTART19960331T010000

DTSTART19960331T010000 is a representation tied to the iCalendar data format, used to indicate the start date and time of a calendar component such as a VEVENT or VTODO. The value encodes the date and time as a compact, ISO-like string: year 1996, month 03, day 31, hour 01, minute 00, second 00. In standard iCalendar syntax, the DTSTART property is typically written with a colon and may include a time zone specification or a Z suffix for UTC, such as DTSTART:19960331T010000, DTSTART:19960331T010000Z, or DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Paris:19960331T010000. Without an explicit time zone (TZID) or a trailing Z, the interpretation of the time depends on the calendar’s default time zone and can be ambiguous.

Because the date falls near when daylight saving time changes occur in some regions, the local time value might be affected by a DST transition. Proper interpretation in a shared calendar requires an explicit time zone (TZID) or a UTC designation to avoid ambiguity about whether the time refers to standard time or daylight time, and whether the hour exists or is repeated.

Context and use: DTSTART is a core element of the iCalendar specification (RFC 5545) and is the primary field that marks the start of an event or task. The exact meaning of the given string depends on its surrounding ICS content, including any TZID declarations. The nonstandard-looking form without a colon is typically a fragment; the canonical syntax includes a colon after DTSTART and a clearly defined value.

See also: iCalendar, RFC 5545, VEVENT, VTIMEZONE.