Time Zone Related Types

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

There are several data or object types that are related to date/time or time zone. Also, X++ has several intrinsic functions that are related to date/time or time zone.

Types

The following tables list data and object types that are related to date/time or time zone.

Class – Unrelated to Visual Controls

Type name in X++	Description
DateTimeUtil	A class whose members are mostly static methods. Used for parsing and translating utcdatetime values. For more information, see DateTimeUtil Class.

Class – Visual Controls

For more information about where visual controls related to date/time are used, see Time Zone and DateTime Display Controls.

Type name in X++	Description
FormDateTimeControl	Displays a date/time value, and enables editing of the value. Translates UTC date/time values both to and from a preferred time zone.
FormWebDateTime	Displays a date/time value, and enables editing of the value. Translates UTC date/time values both to and from a preferred time zone.
ReportDateTimeControl	Displays a date/time value. Translates a UTC date/time value to a preferred time zone.

Database Table Columns

Type name	Description
DateTime	Stored date/time for a specific hour, minute, and second. Corresponds to utcdatetime in X++. When you create a DateTime field on a table, the system always creates a hidden column with the same name except appended with the four letters TZId. The *TZId column is used to automatically store the time zone and DST information that was used to convert the local date/time to UTC. System created DateTime fields on tables, like CreatedDateTime and ModifiedDateTime, do not have corresponding *TZId fields.
Date	Stored date, corresponds to date in X++. There is no *TZId column associated with this type. Date values are not associated with a time zone, and Date values are not converted to any time zone. Birth date is a common example where the Date type is appropriate. No specific Time is associated with a birth date.
Time	Stored time, corresponds to the timeOfDay extended data type. There is no *TZId column associated with this type. Time values are not associated with a time zone, and Time values are not converted to any time zone. The daily hours that a business is scheduled to be open is a common example of where the Time type could be used.

Enums

Type name	Description
Timezone	Based on int. An int value of 0 is used for the UTC time zone.

Extended Data Types

Type name	Description
timeOfDay	An integer count of the number of seconds since the start of a day.

X++ Intrinsic Types

Type name in X++	Description
date	Stores yyyy-mm-dd data, independent of any display format. It is better to use utcdatetime whenever the time component is also needed.
utcdatetime	Stores yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss data. Storage is independent of any display format.

X++ Functions

There are functions intrinsic to X++. A few of these functions are related to date/time.

Functions Directly Related to utcdatetime

The following functions can be used to convert between utcdatetime and string.

Function name	Description
datetime2Str	Converts a utcdatetime into a text string. For more information, see datetime2Str Function.
str2Datetime	Converts a text string into a utcdatetime. For more information, see str2Datetime Function.

See also

Time Zone Overview and Terminology

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