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4 4  
5 5  = 1. Problem statement =
6 6  
7 -In many cases, data that are exchanged in SDMX data messages do not relate to the calendar year. However, many statistical system implementations require that data are mapped to and stored as the real calendar.
7 +In many cases, data that are exchanged in SDMX data messages do not relate to the calendar year.  However, many statistical system implementations require that data are mapped to and stored as the real calendar.
8 8  
9 9  This guideline provides recommendations for the following four use cases of such non-calendar year data:
10 10  
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20 20  
21 21  [[image:1768553211015-575.png]]
22 22  
23 -Assuming that the time dimension has the ID TIME_PERIOD, case 1 could use TIME_PERIOD=”2015”. All other cases would need to use the notation TIME_PERIOD=”2015-A1”. For the rest of the document we use the more general notation “2015-A1”.{{footnote}}The YYYY format is reserved for Gregorian years, i.e. from January 1 to December 31. For reporting years that are not Gregorian years, the format YYYY-A1 (e.g. 2016-A1) must be used for the time dimension.{{/footnote}}
23 +Assuming that the time dimension has the ID TIME_PERIOD, case 1 could use TIME_PERIOD=”2015”. All other cases would need to use the notation TIME_PERIOD=”2015-A1”. For the rest of the document we use the more general notation “2015-A1”. [[~[1~]>>path:#_ftn1||style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"]]
24 24  
25 25  For quarterly or monthly data, the first period of the reporting year would also need to be read as relative to the start of the reporting year. Here are examples for case 2 if the data is quarterly (2a) or monthly (2b):
26 26  
... ... @@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
28 28  
29 29  Note that in case 2a, the third quarter of reporting year 2015 (TIME_PERIOD=2015-Q3) is covering data from March until June 2016. In case 2b, the seventh month of reporting year 2015 (TIME_PERIOD=2015-M07) is covering data for January 2016.
30 30  
31 -It is clear in the graphical view that time series under case 2b should not be directly compared with time series under case 4. If it is required to compare figures of the same time period, the 2015 observation of the type 2b series is compared with the 2016 figure of the type 4 series. Comparing a 2a series with others from the example may be more complicated, because exact alignment of the timelines might not be possible without additional data. It is possible to estimate aligned timelines by doing a time transformation using formulas; for instance, shifting the time series to comply with the calendar year. The methodological aspects of time transformation are not part of these guidelines. For coding the results of such transformations, please refer to the guidelines on coding time transformations in SDMX{{footnote}}https://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SWG_TimeTransformation_V1.0.docx{{/footnote}}.
31 +It is clear in the graphical view that time series under case 2b should not be directly compared with time series under case 4. If it is required to compare figures of the same time period, the 2015 observation of the type 2b series is compared with the 2016 figure of the type 4 series. Comparing a 2a series with others from the example may be more complicated, because exact alignment of the timelines might not be possible without additional data. It is possible to estimate aligned timelines by doing a time transformation using formulas; for instance, shifting the time series to comply with the calendar year. The methodological aspects of time transformation are not part of these guidelines. For coding the results of such transformations, please refer to the guidelines on coding time transformations in SDMX[[~[2~]>>path:#_ftn2]].
32 32  
33 33  = 2. SDMX Concepts for Non-Calendar Year Series =
34 34  
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36 36  
37 37  In SDMX messages, the time period concept (concept ID TIME_PERIOD) specifies the **reporting period**. This reporting period, as outlined above, is in many cases not aligned with the calendar year.
38 38  
39 -To specify the calendar period that a reporting period is covering, the SDMX technical standard already defines an attribute “reporting year start” on series level with format xs:gMonthDay{{footnote}}https://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SDMX_2-1-1-SECTION_6_TechnicalNotes-march-2013.pdf, row 658.{{/footnote}}. It gives a day and month when the reporting year starts. It is optional and if not provided the default is 1^^st^^ January. Using this attribute can cover cases 1, 2 and 3 from above. When added to a series, the attribute will specify on which day of the calendar year the reporting year starts.
39 +To specify the calendar period that a reporting period is covering, the SDMX technical standard already defines an attribute “reporting year start” on series level with format xs:gMonthDay[[~[3~]>>path:#_ftn3]]. It gives a day and month when the reporting year starts. It is optional and if not provided the default is 1^^st^^ January. Using this attribute can cover cases 1, 2 and 3 from above. When added to a series, the attribute will specify on which day of the calendar year the reporting year starts.
40 40  
41 41  This is not sufficient to cover case 4, because in this case the reporting year 2015 starts in 2014. In order to specify this case, a different attribute “reporting year end” should be used. It is also on series level with format xs:gMonthDay and gives a day and month when the reporting year ends. It is optional and if not provided the default is 31^^st^^ December.
42 42  
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46 46  
47 47  == //ISO 8601 time interval// ==
48 48  
49 -As outlined above, in some cases reporting periods might not have the same duration as calendar periods. A crop year in agriculture may only last for a couple of months. To specify these periods on a more granular level, the SDMX technical standard suggests using the time intervals as defined by ISO 8601. ISO specifies four ways to express a time interval{{footnote}}http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/iso8601.htm and
50 -https://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SDMX_2-1-1-SECTION_6_TechnicalNotes-march-2013.pdf, row 749.{{/footnote}}:
49 +As outlined above, in some cases reporting periods might not have the same duration as calendar periods. A crop year in agriculture may only last for a couple of months. To specify these periods on a more granular level, the SDMX technical standard suggests using the time intervals as defined by ISO 8601. ISO specifies four ways to express a time interval[[~[4~]>>path:#_ftn4]]:
51 51  
52 52  1. Start and end, such as "2007-03-01T13:00:00Z/2008-05-11T15:30:00Z"
53 53  1. Start and duration, such as "2007-03-01T13:00:00Z/P1Y2M10DT2H30M"
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54 54  1. Duration and end, such as "P1Y2M10DT2H30M/2008-05-11T15:30:00Z"
55 55  1. Duration only, such as "P1Y2M10DT2H30M", with additional context information
56 56  
56 +
57 +
57 57  An attribute time range (ID:TIME_RANGE) is suggested at the observation level to specify further in which particular time range a specific observation was collected. The series will still specify when the reporting period starts or ends for the whole series and each observation can have a specific time range within that reporting period. It is suggested for that case to use only option 1, the start and end date, and not the other options in SDMX context.
58 58  
59 59  = 3. Example 1: Based on National Accounts data exchange =
... ... @@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
88 88  1. Reporting year is equal to the calendar year
89 89  
90 90  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="C" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
91 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
92 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
92 92  </na_:Series>
93 93  
94 94  
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98 98  Example: fiscal year starting on the 1^^st^^ of July
99 99  
100 100  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="F07" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
101 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
102 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
102 102  </na_:Series>
103 103  
104 104  
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108 108  Example: tax year starting on the 5^^th^^ of April
109 109  
110 110  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="F04" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
111 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
112 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
112 112  </na_:Series>
113 113  
114 114  
... ... @@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
115 115  REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="F04" à reporting year 1995 would start 1^^st^^ April 1995. The case is not solved because we do not know anymore that it should be on the 5^^th^^. Another option would be to use the “F_O” code:
116 116  
117 117  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="F_O" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
118 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
119 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
119 119  </na_:Series>
120 120  
121 121  
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125 125  Example: fiscal year ending on the 30^^th^^ of June, equivalent to fiscal year starting on the 1^^st^^ of July Y-1
126 126  
127 127  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="??" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
128 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
129 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
129 129  </na_:Series>
130 130  
131 131  
... ... @@ -138,9 +138,10 @@
138 138  1. Reporting year is equal to the calendar year
139 139  
140 140  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="C" REPYEARSTART="~-~-01-01"// //**STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
141 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
142 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
142 142  </na_:Series>
143 143  
145 +
144 144  1995-Q1 is the same as the calendar definition: from 1^^st^^ January 1995 until 31^^st^^ March 1995. In this case, the attribute REPYEARSTART may be omitted, since it expressed the default value of 1^^st^^ January.
145 145  
146 146  Reporting year starts on the first day of a month different to January
... ... @@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
147 147  Example: fiscal year starting on the 1^^st^^ of July
148 148  
149 149  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="F07" REPYEARSTART="~-~-07-01" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
150 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
152 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
151 151  </na_:Series>
152 152  
153 153  Reporting period 1995-Q1 lasts in that case from 1^^st^^ July 1995 until 30^^th^^ September 1995.
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156 156  Example: tax year starting on the 5^^th^^ of April
157 157  
158 158  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="F04" REPYEARSTART="~-~-04-05" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
159 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
161 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
160 160  </na_:Series>
161 161  
162 162  Reporting period 1995-Q1 lasts in that case from 5^^th^^ April 1995 until 4^^th^^ July 1995.
... ... @@ -165,7 +165,7 @@
165 165  Example: fiscal year ending on the 30^^th^^ of June, equivalent to fiscal year starting on the 1^^st^^ of July Y-1
166 166  
167 167  <na_:Series **REF_PERIOD_DETAIL="??" REPYEAREND="~-~-06-30" **STO="B1G" REF_AREA="LU" FREQ="Q">
168 - <na_:Obs OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
170 + <na_:Obs  OBS_VALUE="44" TIME_PERIOD="**1995**-Q1"/>
169 169  </na_:Series>
170 170  
171 171  Reporting period 1995-Q1 lasts in that case from 1^^st^^ July 1994 until 30^^th^^ September 1994
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190 190  
191 191  Note that the DSD proposal below does not constitute a real usable DSD for agriculture statistics. It is heavily simplified to only include concepts that are relevant for the purpose of these guidelines. Also the SDMX fragments shown in the example are not syntactically correct. They just serve the purpose of explaining the issue and show the coding in a readable way (pseudo code).
192 192  
195 +
193 193  |**Concept ID**|**Description**|**Role**|**Code List / Format**
194 194  |**FREQ**|Frequency|Dimension|A (annual), S (Half-yearly)
195 195  |**REF_AREA**|Reference area|Dimension|IN (India), CN (China)
... ... @@ -343,4 +343,11 @@
343 343  
344 344  ----
345 345  
346 -{{putFootnotes/}}
349 +[[~[1~]>>path:#_ftnref1]] The //YYYY// format is reserved for Gregorian years, i.e. from January 1 to December 31. For reporting years that are not Gregorian years, the format YYYY-A1 (e.g. 2016-A1) must be used for the time dimension
350 +
351 +[[~[2~]>>path:#_ftnref2]] [[https:~~/~~/sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SWG_TimeTransformation_V1.0.docx>>url:https://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SWG_TimeTransformation_V1.0.docx]]
352 +
353 +[[~[3~]>>path:#_ftnref3]] [[https:~~/~~/sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SDMX_2-1-1-SECTION_6_TechnicalNotes-march-2013.pdf>>url:https://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SDMX_2-1-1-SECTION_6_TechnicalNotes-march-2013.pdf]], row 658
354 +
355 +[[~[4~]>>path:#_ftnref4]] [[http:~~/~~/www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/iso8601.htm>>url:http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/iso8601.htm]] and
356 +[[https:~~/~~/sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SDMX_2-1-1-SECTION_6_TechnicalNotes-march-2013.pdf>>url:https://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/SDMX_2-1-1-SECTION_6_TechnicalNotes-march-2013.pdf]], row 749.
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