NTP-2: Standards for Encoding, Time and Localization

Status: PUBLISHED
Authors: Danthur Lice
Date of Creation: 2025-01-12
Date of Publication: 2025-01-15
License: NCL-11

1. Scope

This document establishes the official standards for encoding, timestamp formats, regionalization, localization, and binary representation within the Norsh ecosystem. It provides a deterministic and jurisdiction-neutral framework applicable to all layers of system operation, including APIs, storage, user interfaces, logs, exports, and Smart Elements.

2. Normative Principles

To ensure interoperability, determinism, auditability, and performance across distributed and multi-tenant environments, this document defines strict and non-negotiable conventions for:

Character encoding and binary representation

Timezone alignment and timestamp formats

Duration metrics and epoch handling

Numerical formats in both machine and human-readable contexts

Localization and language standards

These norms apply uniformly across all components and subsystems operating under or integrated with the Norsh standard.

3. Technical Specification

3.1 Encoding

All text-based content must use UTF-8 (without BOM). This includes JSON, HTML, scripts, logs, configuration files, and database fields.

Any file not using explicit UTF-8 encoding must be rejected or normalized prior to ingestion.

3.2 Timezone and Timestamp Format

Timezone: All timestamps must be in UTC (timezone zero).

Format (ISO 8601): YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ
Example: 2025-01-01T12:30:45.123Z

Time (24-hour): HH:mm:ss
Example: 17:45:30

Date Only: YYYY-MM-DD
Example: 2025-12-31

3.3 Epoch Time

Timestamps must be represented as milliseconds since Epoch.

Epoch reference: 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

No alternative epochs or time bases are permitted.

3.4 High-Precision Durations

Use nanoseconds as integers for sub-millisecond accuracy.

Durations must always represent relative intervals, not absolute timestamps.

3.5 ISO Weeks and Custom Alignment

Week Start: Monday (ISO 8601)

Custom Epoch Week:

Week 0: From 1970-01-01 (Thursday) to 1970-04-01 (Sunday)

Week 1: Begins 1970-04-01 (Monday)

This alignment ensures consistent long-term temporal partitioning for sharding and audits.

3.6 Number Formatting

3.6.1 Machine-Level Representation

Decimal separator: Period (.)

Thousands separator: Forbidden

Scientific notation: Forbidden

Precision: All significant digits must be retained (no truncation)

Use fixed-point or high-precision libraries when required

Valid:

1000.00

0.00000001

1.25001

Invalid:

1,000.00

1.2e+6

3.6.2 Human-Readable Outputs

Decimal: .

Thousands: ,

Locale: en-US

Truncation or rounding: Permitted only at display level, never in stored values

Examples:

1,000.00

25,750,000.500000001

3.7 Language and Localization

Primary Language: English (United States)

Standard: ISO 639-1 (e.g., en, pt, es)

All constants, keys, logs, and technical fields must use en-US.

Multilingual user interfaces are optional but must not alter stored representations.

3.8 Binary Data Representation

Binary content in structured formats (JSON, XML, CSV) must:

Be encoded in Base64

Be clearly marked as Base64-encoded

Only be used when strictly necessary (e.g., signatures, compressed binaries)

Example:

{
  "binaryFile": "UEsDBBQAAAAIA...AAA="
}

3.9 Compression Standard

Format: ZIP (application/zip)

Must comply with the ZIP File Format Specification (PKWARE)

Applies to:

Ledger exports

Log bundles

Offline packages

Integrity and compatibility with standard tools is mandatory.

3.10 Enforcement Scope

Mandatory compliance applies to:

Source code and configurations

Scripts and system tools

Databases and schemas

API requests and responses

Logs and exports (JSON, XML, CSV, ZIP)

Non-conforming inputs are invalid and subject to automatic rejection or normalization.

4. Conclusion

This standard enforces uniform encoding, timestamping, numeric formatting, and localization protocols to ensure deterministic behavior and eliminate ambiguity across the Norsh ecosystem. By requiring strict compliance, it enables seamless integration, transparent auditing, and jurisdiction-neutral operation across diverse platforms. No component or interface is exempt from this NTP.

NTP-2: Standards for Encoding, Time and Localization

1. Scope#

2. Normative Principles#

3. Technical Specification#

3.1 Encoding#

3.2 Timezone and Timestamp Format#

3.3 Epoch Time#

3.4 High-Precision Durations#

3.5 ISO Weeks and Custom Alignment#

3.6 Number Formatting#

3.6.1 Machine-Level Representation#

3.6.2 Human-Readable Outputs#

3.7 Language and Localization#

3.8 Binary Data Representation#

3.9 Compression Standard#

3.10 Enforcement Scope#

4. Conclusion#