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The Time data type formats your text as a time, consisting of one or more of the following attributes: hours, minutes, seconds, and/or fractions of seconds. Once you choose to format your text as a time readout, you can customize the appearance by specifying a locale and various formatting options.

To format your text as a time

On the Data Type tab, the following options are available for data sources formatted as a time:

• Locale: Specifies the language and country of the selected time format. In addition to all locales supported by Windows, the following options are available:

  • Use Windows Default: Sets the locale to the user's current Windows Regional and Languages setting. When using this setting, the time will be formatted differently depending on the system’s current language. If this is not desirable, select a specific locale setting.

  • Language Independent (Generic): Lists formats which are the same in every language. This includes several numeric formats for hour, minute, and second.

  • Language Independent (ISO 8601): Lists formats according to the ISO-8601 specification. These formats are language-independent.

• Format: Lists the time formatting options available for the specified Locale. The Custom option enables you to specify a user-defined time format, using Custom Date and Time Format Strings.

• Pattern: Displays the selected time format. When Custom is selected, this option enables you to enter a user-defined format. For more information on available custom strings, refer to Custom Date and Time Format Strings.

• Time Zone: Specifies whether the time will be displayed in the local time zone or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC time, or Greenwich Mean Time, is an international time scale based on the local standard time on the 0 longitude meridian in Greenwich, England.