Date format in model views follows the language set in the launcher, but this doesn't cover all possibilities

[Argocyte]

System Information

MultiMC version: 0.6.11-1430

Operating System: win32

Summary of the issue or suggestion:

Minecraft versions show released date in the American date format. This is not internationally friendly and can lead to confusion.

The date format could be changed to big endian to allow international recognisability.

What should happen:

Use the date format ISO8601 YYYY-MM-DD

Steps to reproduce the issue (Add more if needed):

Add instance > Released

Suspected cause:

Ignorance of the iso8601 international standard for date formatting.

Logs/Screenshots:

Additional Info:

[jamierocks]

I wonder if it'd be possible to just use the appropriate format for the locale.

[Argocyte]

I suppose it could inherit from window's date format settings?

[peterix]

Let's see...

It should be whatever is the date format on your system, depending on your configuration?

EDIT:
Hmm, nevermind. It's actually based on the language you select in the settings.

[Argocyte]

Hmm, nevermind. It's actually based on the language you select in the settings.

Given the only English option is American English...

[peterix]

Yeah ... I guess that's fair enough.

The other option would be to allow setting this sort of stuff independently from the language.

[Argocyte]

The ISO format is international, and the standard for file naming and release schemes (sorting by alphabetical puts them in date order).

Given the usage of the date here ISO8601 seems highly appropriate as the default for all languages.

[peterix]

Yeah, I guess that's reasonable. We got timestamps in more than one place though, and this should probably be something that's configurable.

[peterix]

Anyway, we got translations, but that doesn't cover every language or locale possible.

[jamierocks]

Hmm, nevermind. It's actually based on the language you select in the settings.

I guess that makes sense, annoying in this case though.

The other option would be to allow setting this sort of stuff independently from the language.

That might be a good idea, or just add in more English's (English English, whatever others).

[Liggliluff]

If possible, it should use the format as provided by the system. That way, the user gets the format they expect and are used to, and you get a consistent user experience across the system. I've set my system to ISO 8601 because I think it's superior. But for dynamic date fields like these, it should base it on your system format first.

If the software can't access the system date format; then either offer all locales from CLDR to cover as much as possible, or just use the ISO 8601 format.

ISO 8601 is better used for static data, such as databases, since static data can't be adjusted for every locale; plus that ISO 8601 is easier for a computer to read, which is useful in databases. If a field is dynamic, it shouldn't force ISO 8601 on everyone, that should only be the last resort.

[kb-1000]

In my opinion, changing MultiMC ISO 8601 globally for all users is a bad idea. (For a datetime value even more, but this is just date.)
That doesn't seem to be a user-facing format. You might like it, but not everyone does.
Making it use the system date format seems like a good idea, if possible. That would also catch your ISO 8601 special case.