Procedure
The following possibilities exist for the specification of times:
The 24-hour format: Valid times are in the range between 00:00:00 and23:59:59. In some applications 24:00:00 is also accepted.
The 12-hour format: The hours are in the range between 1 and 12. Timesbefore 12 midday are marked with "AM" at the end, times after 12 middayare marked by "PM". "12:00:00 AM" identifies the start of the day. "12Noon" can be specified instead of "12:00:00 PM". "A" or "a" can bespecified instead of "AM". Corresponding rules apply for "PM". (Someprograms accept "24:00:00 PM" as the start of the next day.)
The following specifications are permitted as a variant of the 12-hourformat: "00:00:00 AM" can be specified instead of "12:00:00 AM","00:00:00 PM" can be specified instead of "12:00:00 PM".Correspondingly, specifications such as "00:59:59 AM" and "00:59:59 PM"are possible.
It is generally the case that the seconds, or the minutes and seconds,can be left out. Furthermore, for specifications such as "09:50" theleading zero can be left out.