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Date

A primitive Value Type representing a pure calendar day without time or timezone context.

type: data-model · status: draft · abstraction: instance

What it is​

The Date value type is a primitive used to represent a pure calendar day without any time-of-day or timezone context. It strictly handles the definition of a specific block of 24 hours on a calendar.

In an ERP context, the Date type is essential for managing absolute temporal facts that must remain universally consistent regardless of where they are viewed or evaluated. This includes scenarios like supplier compliance deadlines, material shelf-life expiry, standard accounting periods, and employee birthdays.

The Date type categorically forbids the storing or applying of a timezone. A raw material that expires on 2024-10-25 must consistently evaluate as expiring on the 25th in all Automation runs and UI presentations globally. It must never accidentally roll backwards to the 24th just because it is being evaluated by a user or server in a western timezone.

Why it exists​

Treating dates and timestamps as the same concept creates critical vulnerabilities in a globally distributed system. If an expiration date is stored as a UTC timestamp, timezone shifts risk calculating the expiration a day early or a day late. By formalising Date as a distinct, timezone-agnostic value type, IMOS guarantees that pure calendar events remain structurally isolated from exact moments in time, eliminating silent data drift in global supply chains.

Relationships​

Outgoing

Incoming

  • is distinct from ← Timestamp — Timestamp fixes an exact instant on the global timeline; Date is a pure calendar day with no time or timezone.

Neighbourhood​

Stakeholder summaries​

  • Product — Gives admins a distinct field type for capturing pure calendar dates that will automatically ignore the viewer's timezone, ensuring universal consistency for day-level deadlines.
  • Investor — Provides a foundational requirement for global ERPs: preventing systematic data corruption when absolute calendar deadlines are read across different global subsidiaries.
  • Marketing — Ensures that calendar-based records like material expiry or accounting deadlines remain perfectly consistent, no matter where in the world your team is located.
  • Engineering — Stores dates strictly as strings in YYYY-MM-DD ISO-8601 format. The engine rejects any date math or automation logic that attempts timezone transformations or exact-hour computations on this type.