Metric dates

I hereby propose that we use metric dates: YYYY-MM-DD.

The international standard date notation is: YYYY-MM-DD
where YYYY is the year in the usual Gregorian calendar, MM is the month of the year between 01 (January) and 12 (December), and DD is the day of the month between 01 and 31. source: International standard date and time notation

The Government of Canada recommends the YYYY-MM-DD format for writing numeric dates. source: Date and time notation in Canada - Wikipedia

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The other advantage of dates arranged that way (vs. ddmmyy) is that when sorted alphabetically they are arranged chronologically.

Though I think in the US the date convention is mmddyy anyway, which arranges chronologically (sorted alphabetically) except by year.

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In Sweden we have this “sortable order” yyyy-mm-dd. Strange that not all uses it. :slight_smile:

// Rolf

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Though I think in the US the date convention is mmddyy anyway, which arranges chronologically (sorted alphabetically) except by year.

It is true for most conventions like dates on forms, drivers license, ect. However most offices here do use the yymmdd for file and folder naming for organization (Since most projects are ordered by year)

in the meantime, assuming no single worldwide standard is coming in my lifetime…

instead of MM, i use the first 3 letters.

feb 5 2018 (which is the arrangement i’m personally accustomed to using)…
or
05FEB2018
2018FEB05
201805FEB
etc.

that way, everybody knows what day i’m talking about regardless of which order it’s in or where they learned to write dates.

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feb 5 2018 (which is the arrangement i’m personally accustomed to using)…

but I guess the question is, does it then make sense that at some point some years later your files/folders will be ordered by febs rather than year?- and that the months wont be in chronological order but rather alphabetical. (I guess I question the relevance of that grouping). Not that it is incorrect. But I see a strong case for year,month,day as numbers (if you spell month you get the issue of months being out of order) because we associate these things as periods of time not as alphabetical.

my files are named:

Client_Feb2018_(optional)

…
i use the OS for sorting by whatever… client, create date, modify date, name, filetype, etcetc.

it’s way more exact/easy to find (in my experience) than relying on filenames themselves as the only means to sort.

Well sure I am not for or against per say. Whatever works for the individual as long as we are getting work right :smiley:

also, i wasn’t really talking about file names…
i meant that’s what i do when i’m at the bank, sending estimates/invoices, work orders, etc…
when i’m personally or indirectly meaning to communicate a date to someone else…
it’s pretty foolproof in those regards.

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Who is keeping you from using YYYY-MM-DD?