This section explains how timing is described in all of the configuration files.
All date/time durations in the configuration files are specified as defined by ISO 8601.
- P is the duration designator (historically called "period") placed at the start of the duration representation.
- Y is the year designator that follows the value for the number of years.
- M is the month designator that follows the value for the number of months.
- D is the day designator that follows the value for the number of days.
- T is the time designator that precedes the time components of the representation.
- H is the hour designator that follows the value for the number of hours.
- M is the minute designator that follows the value for the number of minutes.
- S is the second designator that follows the value for the number of seconds.
For example, "P3Y6M4DT12H30M5S" represents a duration of "three years, six months, four days, twelve hours, thirty minutes, and five seconds". Date and time elements including their designator may be omitted if their value is zero, and lower order elements may also be omitted for reduced precision. For example, "P23DT23H" and "P4Y" are both acceptable duration representations.