Skip to Main Content
IBM Power Ideas Portal


This portal is to open public enhancement requests against IBM Power Systems products, including IBM i. To view all of your ideas submitted to IBM, create and manage groups of Ideas, or create an idea explicitly set to be either visible by all (public) or visible only to you and IBM (private), use the IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com).


Shape the future of IBM!

We invite you to shape the future of IBM, including product roadmaps, by submitting ideas that matter to you the most. Here's how it works:

Search existing ideas

Start by searching and reviewing ideas and requests to enhance a product or service. Take a look at ideas others have posted, and add a comment, vote, or subscribe to updates on them if they matter to you. If you can't find what you are looking for,

Post your ideas
  1. Post an idea.

  2. Get feedback from the IBM team and other customers to refine your idea.

  3. Follow the idea through the IBM Ideas process.


Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use

Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.

Status Future consideration
Workspace IBM i
Categories Db2 for i
Created by Guest
Created on Jul 22, 2019

Add ISO 8601 timestamp format.

ISO 8601 format shows:
2019-07-17T15:21:38Z
2019-07-17T15:21:38+01:00
T = seperator between date and time
Z = Zulu time
+01:00 is Zulu + 1 hour


Use Case:

Trying to do data interchange with other systems.


Idea priority Low
  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Jun 15, 2021

    IBM will use this request as input to planning but no commitment is made or implied. This request will be updated in the future if IBM implements it.

    Based on the suggestion provided when more information was requested, Db2 for i would implement 2 new scalar functions, TO_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT and FROM_TIMESTAMP_FORMAT similar to the implementation by Db2 LUW. If anything beyond that is required, a new RFE should be opened containing additional request ideas.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    May 10, 2021

    I think what most people would like is a way to convert from and too DB2 Timestamp format to ISO8601 Timestamp format - https://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime - not store it in a new Timestamp format. So something like new SQL functions of toISOTimestamp and fromISOTimestamp would be great to have, especially was more and more web development is being carried out on the IBMi. Being in Ireland I know that the timezone and the daylight saving will probably cause some issues though - so I assume this is quite a tricky issue to solve.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    May 7, 2021

    Back in January IBM asked for help to identify the most valuable uses of this request. So far, there has been no response. In order to consider this RFE for implementation, we need a understand the required scope of the request. If more details are not provided by the end of May, this RFE will be closed.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Feb 1, 2021

    The last update to this RFE was a request for ISO timestamp support in RPG as well. That suggestion should be opened as a separate RFE for the RPG compiler team.

    The prior request for more information for an SQL implementation was not fulfilled yet, so asking again for prioritization of the support.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Jan 28, 2021

    I hope you will include support for this in RPG too.
    Something like
    %char(myTimestamp : *ISO8601)
    %dec(MyTimestampString : *ISO8601)

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Jan 19, 2021

    Adding complete support for ISO 8601 timestamps in SQL is a very involved request. We would like to understand the most common scenarios to see if there is a meaningful subset of support we could provide to help fill the current gap. For example, there are considerations for generating these timestamp values and separate considerations for consuming them. Could you provide your top 3 (or so) use cases where this enhancement is needed. How is the data coming in to SQL and/or leaving SQL? What operations do you need to do with it? Your prioritized input will influence how we approach this large topic.

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Feb 25, 2020

    Try the following:
    https://gist.github.com/BirgittaHauser/422a4e470e0b4b4cad0f746f583430e8

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Feb 18, 2020

    The CAAC has reviewed this requirement and recommends that IBM view this as a medium priority requirement that should be addressed. Ability to communicate outside the box is always desirable -- generating a timestamp is not a problem, but getting it back is an annoyance and requires extra work. It would be nice to insert a date/time into the database without having to modify it.

    Background: The COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) members have a broad range of experience in working with small and medium-sized IBM i customers. CAAC has a key role in working with IBM i development to help assess the value and impact of individual RFEs on the broader IBM i community, and has therefore reviewed your RFE.

    For more information about CAAC, see www.common.org/caac

    For more details about CAAC's role with RFEs, see http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com/Blogs/i-Can/May-2017/COMMON-Americas-Advisory-Council-%28CAAC%29-and-RFEs/

    Nancy Uthke-Schmucki - CAAC Program Manager

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Feb 17, 2020

    The COMMON Europe Advisory Council (CEAC) has reviewed this requirement and recommends that IBM view this as a “nice to have” LOW priority feature.

    Background: The CEAC members have a broad range of experience in working with small and medium-sized IBM i customers. CEAC has a crucial role in working with IBM i development to help assess the value and impact of individual RFEs on the broader IBM i community and has therefore reviewed your RFE.

    To find out how CEAC help to shape the future of IBM i, see CEAC @ ibm.biz/BdYSYj and the article "The Five Hottest IBM i RFEs Of The Quarter" at ibm.biz/BdYSZT

    Therese Eaton – CEAC Program Manager, IBM

  • Guest
    Reply
    |
    Jul 24, 2019

    You can always write a UDF for it.