<< From the Schema specification, "dateTime represents a specific instant of time". Although a timezone-like offset from UTC is allowed in the representation of a dataTime value, as I understand it this is not part of the dateTime *value* - in other words, it's just a convenience that is meant to be stripped away during parsing of the value, just like leading zeroes on a number. This is implied by both the definition of dateTime and by the canonical representation, which does not allow an offset. >>
Hi Dennis (et al), Here's my take: The relevant section of schema is: "dateTime represents a specific instant of time. The �value space� of dateTime is the space of Combinations of date and time of day values as defined in � 5.4 of [ISO 8601]." It's clear, and I think that all on this thread agree, that the *lexical* space of dateTime can include time zone information. The question is "Can the *value space* include time zone info? In my opinion the spec is vague and passes the buck to ISO 8601. And the spec's link to ISO 8601 is broken so I can�t (trivially) follow up. The Essential XML Quick Reference [1] implies that the value space does *not* include time zone information. I am cc-ing Aaron Skonnard to see if he can clarify further. To make matters more complex, if time zone offsets are lexical-only, JAX-RPC could still choose to surface this info in the Java binding. I would argue that this is pollution, like surfacing namespace prefixes, but there are certainly others who would disagree. Stu [1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201740958
