Time syntax best practices

Follow these recommendations when working with time syntax in CONNECT API requests to improve consistency, clarity, and reliability across services.

1. Prefer UTC timestamps: Use UTC timestamps with the Z suffix in examples and requests unless a service explicitly requires another format.

2. Use the syntax expected by each service: Use .NET TimeSpan strings for Virtual Table interval fields and data view interval parameters, use ISO 8601 duration strings with operators for virtual table job history duration filters, and use ISO 8601 datetime values for Event Management fields and query windows (startTime, endTime, startsAfter, and startsBefore).

3. Include all relevant components in examples: For timestamps, include year, month, day, hour, minute, and second in documentation examples to reduce ambiguity.

4. Verify index type: Confirm whether your stream or data view uses a datetime, numeric, or another supported single-field index type before constructing queries.

5. Test with examples: Before running production queries, validate time syntax with a small test range.