Eloqua stores dates and times internally in a specific date/time data type in the database. However, when contact lists are uploaded, the dates and times are text, and need to be interpreted by the system.
In E10's Contacts > Contacts > Upload or Contacts > Segments > Upload Contacts wizards, there is no selection for date format (unlike other parts, where there's a DD/MM/YYYY vs MM/DD/YYYY selector). There are many formats that the system will accept, but my personal favourite is:
YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss (e.g. 2014-10-15 15:21:14)
Unlike the other two common date formats, alphabetical order is automatically chronological order, and this format is much less ambiguous. I hope many of you will join me in the war against ambiguity.
MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss A/PM (e.g. 10/15/2014 3:15:14 AM)
This format is also acceptable for the purposes of the list upload wizards mentioned above.
It's also worth noting that the system can accept thousandths of a second (three decimal places), but it doesn't look like that extra data is stored.
"2014-10-15 15:21:14.254" is acceptable. "2014-10-15 15:21:14.2545" will fail.
The following table shows different test text data, and the resulting interpreted/recorded date/time:
| Date-Only Formats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date/Time Text (in CSV) | Recorded Date/Time (GMT-5 / 24 hr) | Note | |
| 10/13/2014 | 2014-Oct-13 00:00:00 | MM/DD/YYYY | |
| 10/13/14 | 2014-Oct-13 00:00:00 | MM/DD/YY | |
| 01/02/03 | 2003-Jan-02 00:00:00 | MM/DD/YY | |
| 2014/10/13 | 2014-Oct-13 00:00:00 | YYYY/MM/DD | |
| 2014.10.13 | 2014-Oct-13 00:00:00 | YYYY/MM/DD | |
| 2014-10-13 | 2014-Oct-13 00:00:00 | YYYY/MM/DD | |
| 14/13/10 | INVALID | Month '14' does not exist (MM/DD/YY) | |
| 13/10/2014 | INVALID | Month '13' does not exist (MM/DD/YYYY) | |
| 13/10/14 | INVALID | Month '13' does not exist (MM/DD/YY) | |
| 2014/13/10 | INVALID | Month '13' does not exist (YYYY/MM/DD) | |
| 2014-13-10 | INVALID | Month '13' does not exist (YYYY/MM/DD) | |
| 3015-10-13 | 3015-Oct-13 00:00:00 | Years are saved in DB as four-digits | |
| 10/11/3015 | 3015-Oct-11 00:00:00 | Years are saved in DB as four-digits | |
| 30105-10-13 | INVALID | Five-digit years are not supported | |
| 10/13/30105 | INVALID | Five-digit years are not supported | |
| Oct 18 | INVALID | Months must be numeric | |
| 18 Oct | INVALID | Months must be numeric | |
| Oct | INVALID | Months must be numeric | |
| 13/10 | INVALID | Cannot have only YY/MM | |
| 2014/10 | INVALID | Cannot have only YYYY/MM | |
| 10/13 | INVALID | Cannot have only MM/YY | |
| 10/2014 | INVALID | Cannot have only MM/YYYY | |
| 01/02 | INVALID | Cannot have only MM/DD (or DD/MM) | |
| 10.11.12 | 2012-Oct-11 00:00:00 | . is used as a date separator (MM/DD/YY) | |
| 10:11:12 | 1900-Jan-01 10:11:12 | : is used as a time separator (HH/mm/ss) | |
| Date/Time Formats | |||
| Date/Time Text (in CSV) | Recorded Date/Time (GMT-5 / 24 hr) | Note | |
| 10/13/2014 14:30:15.252 | 2014-Oct-13 14:30:15 | MM/DD/YYYY HH:mm:ss.fff | |
| 2014/10/13 2:30:15.564 | 2014-Oct-13 02:30:15 | YYYY/MM/DD H:mm:ss.fff | |
| 2014/10/13 2:30:15.564 PM | 2014-Oct-13 14:30:15 | YYYY/MM/DD H:mm:ss.fff xM | |
| 2014.10.13 14.30 | INVALID | Time separator should be : (except for fractions of a second) | |
| 2014/10/13 2:30:15.5642 PM | INVALID | Fractions of a second cannot have more than three digits | |
| 10/13/2014 14:30:15.252 AM | INVALID | Cannot specify AM when HH > 12 | |
| 10/12/2014 2:00P | INVALID | Cannot use A or P (AM or PM must be used) | |
| 2014/10/13 2:30:15.564 A | INVALID | Cannot use A or P (AM or PM must be used) | |
| 2014/10/13 2:30:15.564 P | INVALID | Cannot use A or P (AM or PM must be used) | |
| 2014-10-13 17.25.14.147 | INVALID | Time separator should be : (except for fractions of a second) | |
| 10-11-12 2-5-14 | INVALID | Time separator should be : (except for fractions of a second) | |
| 10-11-12 2.5.14 | INVALID | Time separator should be : (except for fractions of a second) | |
| 10/13/2014 14 PM | 2014-Oct-13 14:00:00 | Minutes/Seconds not required when AM/PM is specified | |
| 10/13/2014 14 AM | INVALID | Cannot specify AM when HH > 12 | |
| 10/13/2014 2 PM | 2014-Oct-13 14:00:00 | Minutes/Seconds not required when AM/PM is specified | |
| 10/13/2014 14 | INVALID | Time requires either Minutes or AM/PM | |
| 10/12/2014 2:00PM | 2014-Oct-12 14:00:00 | Space is not required between ss and AM/PM | |
| 2014/10/12 2:00PM | 2014-Oct-12 14:00:00 | Space is not required between ss and AM/PM | |
| 10/12/2014-2:00PM | INVALID | Must use a space between the date and the time | |
| 2014/10 2:00 PM | INVALID | Cannot have only 2 of 3 date components | |
| 10/13 2:00 | INVALID | Cannot have only 2 of 3 date components | |
| 13/10 2:00 | INVALID | Cannot have only 2 of 3 date components | |
| 2014 2:00 PM | 2014-Jan-01 14:00:00 | Year only + time is okay | |
| Time-Only Formats | |||
| Date/Time Text (in CSV) | Recorded Date/Time (GMT-5 / 24 hr) | Note | |
| 2:45:10 AM | 1900-Jan-01 02:45:10 | Date defaults to 1900-Jan-01 when only time is specified | |
| 14:12:25 | 1900-Jan-01 14:12:25 | Date defaults to 1900-Jan-01 when only time is specified | |
| 14:00 | 1900-Jan-01 14:00:00 | Date defaults to 1900-Jan-01 when only time is specified | |
| 2 PM | 1900-Jan-01 14:00:00 | Minutes/Seconds not required when AM/PM is specified | |
| 2 P | INVALID | Cannot use A or P (AM or PM must be used) | |
| 14 | INVALID | Time requires either Minutes or AM/PM | |
| 10.11.12 | 2012-Oct-11 00:00:00 | . (period) is used as a date separator (MM/DD/YY) | |
| 10:11:12 | 1900-Jan-01 10:11:12 | : (colon) is used as a time separator (HH/mm/ss) | |
| 24.15.14 | INVALID | MM cannot be > 12 | |
| 24:15:14 | INVALID | HH cannot be > 23 | |
| 10 11 12 | INVALID | <space> cannot be used as a separator within a date or time (it must be used between the date and the time) | |
| 10 11 | INVALID | <space> cannot be used as a separator within a date or time (it must be used between the date and the time) | |
| 10/12/2014-2:00PM | INVALID | Must use a space between the date and the time | |
For details on the effects of time zones, see Time Zones Across Eloqua
Attached is a spreadsheet of different date/time tests performed, and how they were interpreted by the system (source data for above table).