Subject: Re: DATE-OBS='31/12/99'

From: Guy Rixon <gtr at ast.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 10:01:52 +0100

Peter Bunclark wrote:
> 
> What is happening about the millenium?  Is there any proposed way of dealing
> with the 2-digit original spec. of the year of observation.
> 
> [detail deleted]
> 
> One would not want (nor be allowed) to invalidate FITS readers expecting
> the original DATE-OBS keyword, so a suggestion is
> DATEOBS = '19960624'               / YYYYMMDD   Date with full year length.
> 
> [more discussion deleted]

I strongly support Pete's suggestion of a new keyword to take over from 
DATE-OBS in new files and agree that yyyymmdd is the best format.  However,
I'm not so sure that DATEOBS is the right keyword to use.  I think to have two 
descriptors differing only by one character in the keyword and carrying almost
but not quite identical information in the value field is dangerous.

How about DATEFULL, or DATELONG, or even, since the yyyymmdd format is thought 
to be an ISO standard, DATE-ISO?

-- 
Guy Rixon,				gtr at ast.cam.ac.uk 
Software Engineering Group,		Tel: +44-1223-374000
Royal Greenwich Observatory 		Fax: +44-1223-374700