YYYYMMDDThhmmss

YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS is a compact timestamp format used in computing to denote a specific date and time in ISO 8601 basic form. The string combines a four-digit year, two-digit month, two-digit day, a literal T separating date and time, and a two-digit hour, minute, and second, all written without separators. In this notation, the date portion uses MM for month and the time portion uses MM for minutes, which can be clarified by noting that the same letter represents different fields depending on position.

Example: 20240315T101530 encodes March 15, 2024 at 10:15:30. Another example is 19991231T235959 for the last moment of 1999. The pattern is designed to be compact and to sort lexicographically in a way that aligns with chronological order when compared as plain text.

Usage: This format is commonly employed in file names, log records, and data interchange where spaces or punctuation are undesirable. It is also used in various databases and versioning systems. The main advantage is that the string is fixed-length and sortable by simple string comparison.

Timezone handling: The base pattern lacks explicit time zone information. To indicate a time zone, a trailing Z can be appended to denote UTC, or a numeric offset such as +0500 or -0800 can be added, consistent with ISO 8601 extended forms. Some implementations allow fractions of a second, but that extends beyond the basic YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS form.

Limitations: Without an explicit offset, the interpretation of the timestamp depends on context. For international use or precise scheduling, standardizing on UTC or including an offset is recommended.