[lug] MEAS Data file format

[David]

   On Wed, 16 Aug 2000, Wayde Allen wrote:
   
   > > Again, see http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-time.html.  It is an
   > > *international* standard, used, for example, in many database programs
   > > (e.g. MySQL), programs like RCS, etc.  The standard format is YYYY-MM-DD.  
   > > Not ambiguous.  Easily machine sortable.
   > 
   > Yes, Yes I agree.  We covered this one already.
   
   I thought we had too, actually.  :-)
   Bruce


Bruce, I think that you have missed the point.  My comment is not
about the technical issue; you covered that before and everyone
(posting here) agrees: an international standard that covers what is
required should be used.  That is the easy bit.

The hard bit is not upsetting someone who is collecting data on the
weight of snowflakes, who uses computers because he has to, hates them
because they always seem to garbage his beautiful data, and who
you are trying to persuade to use your system.  I am afraid that
YYYY-MM-DD *is* ambiguous - it could be YYYY-DD-MM - and, count on it,
some human being will interprete it that way.

"Easily machine sortable" falls into the easy category because we are
back to strictly technical stuff ultimately involving a computer and a
programmer.