How does DB2® Document Manager handle date, time, and time stamp formats for Content Manager?

Answer

The Content Manager system stores date, time, and timestamp attributes in the database as a numeric value. Depending upon the type of attribute where the data is stored, the value retrieved back and visible to the end user through DB2 Document Manager may be set to the local time, GMT, or be set to the last updated time in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Understanding the differences between attribute types that may be used to store a date value is helpful in deciphering the date and time values displayed to the user and can help in system and item attribute planning for your content management system.

Types of Content Manager attributes

Content Manager allows three types of date and time oriented attributes: Date, Time and Timestamp. A Date type attribute stores a date value only, a Time type attribute stores the time value only and a timestamp attribute stores both the date and time. The actual value stored is a numeric value representing the date or time. That numeric value is then interpreted for display through the Document Manager Desktop.

Date and Time attributes

Date and time attributes store and display the date or time value for the local system when the value was entered into the document profile. User specified attributes for date and time, which are typically selected or entered into the item profile through a dialog, will be displayed as values representing the local system date or time. For system specified values for date and type, such as those entered by services as a processing time, these values are displayed as local server date or time.

In both cases, these values will be displayed to the user as the date or time entered by the user or service for the local system and is a reflection of the date or time for the local system where it was entered.

Timestamp

Timestamp attributes, such as the Created attribute, are a combination of date and time. These values are stored in GMT and translated for display through the Document Manager Desktop to the local system user’s local time.

Examples