scope:

The scope of this American National Standard is limited to the representation of calendar date for interchange among data systems; it does not describe how the date is determined. This standard was not designed for (nor does it preclude) usage by humans as input to, or output from, data systems. This standard does not address how data is converted by data systems to be internally processed and/or stored.

Purpose

The purpose of the American National Standard is to provide a single standard means of representing calendar date for interchange of dates among data systems.

Application

The representation of calendar date specified in this standard is compatible with other national and international standards. In ISO 8601: 1988, the representation specified by this American National Standard is referred to as calendar date-complete representation-basic format, except that the notation YYYY is used instead of CCYY.