[tei-council] ISO 8601 ambiguity

[Syd Bauman]

This is mostly aimed at James, who I think has an interest in this
stuff, but others may be interested as well.

I've been reading ISO 8601:2004 lately, and it seems to me there is a
glaring ambiguity.

  <date value="1948"> <!-- calendar year basic format, reduced
                           accuracy; see 4.1.2.3(b); represents the
                           year Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated -->

  <time value="1948"> <!-- local time basic format, reduced accuracy;
                           see 4.2.2.3(a); represents a good time to
                           clear the dinner table and get ready for
                           bed: 19.8 hours into the day -->

(Of course, if you were to use the extended format for the time,
i.e. "19:48", no ambiguity exists.)

I have *never* liked the basic formats, and the current draft of the
Guidelines says

    <p>For all representations for which ISO 8601 describes both a
    <soCalled>basic</soCalled> and an <soCalled>extended</soCalled>
    format, these Guidelines recommend use of the extended
    format.</p>

I'm wondering if this shouldn't be worded more strongly. (And those
<soCalled>s should probably be <term>s or <name>s.) I note that the
Wikipedia says "The extended formats are preferred over basic formats
because some basic formats are ambiguous."