XSD Date and Time Data Types

Date and time data types are used for values that contain date and time.

Date Data Type

The date data type is used to specify a date.

The date is specified in the following form "YYYY-MM-DD" where:

• YYYY indicates the year
• MM indicates the month
• DD indicates the day

Note: All components are required!

The following is an example of a date declaration in a schema:

<xs:element name="start" type="xs:date"/>

An element in your document might look like this:

<start>2002-09-24</start>

Time Zones

To specify a time zone, you can either enter a date in UTC time by adding a "Z" behind the date - like this:

<start>2002-09-24Z</start>

or you can specify an offset from the UTC time by adding a positive or negative time behind the date - like this:

<start>2002-09-24-06:00</start>

or

<start>2002-09-24+06:00</start>

Time Data Type

The time data type is used to specify a time.

The time is specified in the following form "hh:mm:ss" where:

• hh indicates the hour
• mm indicates the minute
• ss indicates the second

Note: All components are required!

The following is an example of a time declaration in a schema:

<xs:element name="start" type="xs:time"/>

An element in your document might look like this:

<start>09:00:00</start>

Or it might look like this:

<start>09:30:10.5</start>

Time Zones

To specify a time zone, you can either enter a time in UTC time by adding a "Z" behind the time - like this:

<start>09:30:10Z</start>

or you can specify an offset from the UTC time by adding a positive or negative time behind the time - like this:

<start>09:30:10-06:00</start>

or

<start>09:30:10+06:00</start>

DateTime Data Type

The dateTime data type is used to specify a date and a time.

The dateTime is specified in the following form "YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss" where:

• YYYY indicates the year
• MM indicates the month
• DD indicates the day
• T indicates the start of the required time section
• hh indicates the hour
• mm indicates the minute
• ss indicates the second

Note: All components are required!

The following is an example of a dateTime declaration in a schema:

<xs:element name="startdate" type="xs:dateTime"/>

An element in your document might look like this:

<startdate>2002-05-30T09:00:00</startdate>

Or it might look like this:

<startdate>2002-05-30T09:30:10.5</startdate>

Time Zones

To specify a time zone, you can either enter a dateTime in UTC time by adding a "Z" behind the time - like this:

<startdate>2002-05-30T09:30:10Z</startdate>

or you can specify an offset from the UTC time by adding a positive or negative time behind the time - like this:

<startdate>2002-05-30T09:30:10-06:00</startdate>

or

<startdate>2002-05-30T09:30:10+06:00</startdate>

Duration Data Type

The duration data type is used to specify a time interval.

The time interval is specified in the following form "PnYnMnDTnHnMnS" where:

• P indicates the period (required)
• nY indicates the number of years
• nM indicates the number of months
• nD indicates the number of days
• T indicates the start of a time section (required if you are going to specify hours, minutes, or seconds)
• nH indicates the number of hours
• nM indicates the number of minutes
• nS indicates the number of seconds

The following is an example of a duration declaration in a schema:

<xs:element name="period" type="xs:duration"/>

An element in your document might look like this:

<period>P5Y</period>

The example above indicates a period of five years.

Or it might look like this:

<period>P5Y2M10D</period>

The example above indicates a period of five years, two months, and 10 days.

Or it might look like this:

<period>P5Y2M10DT15H</period>

The example above indicates a period of five years, two months, 10 days, and 15 hours.

Or it might look like this:

<period>PT15H</period>

The example above indicates a period of 15 hours.

Negative Duration

To specify a negative duration, enter a minus sign before the P:

<period>-P10D</period>

The example above indicates a period of minus 10 days.

Date and Time Data Types

Restrictions on Date Data Types

Restrictions that can be used with Date data types:

• enumeration
• maxExclusive
• maxInclusive
• minExclusive
• minInclusive
• pattern
• whiteSpace

Get Your Diploma! W3Schools' Online Certification Program is the perfect solution for busy professionals who need to balance work, family, and career building. The HTML Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of HTML, XHTML, and CSS. The JavaScript Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of JavaScript and the HTML DOM. The XML Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of XML, XML DOM and XSLT. The ASP Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of ASP, SQL, and ADO. The PHP Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of PHP and SQL (MySQL).