Why does DateTime add a T separator to the timestamp?

Question

My code:

print DateTime->now;

Response:

2012-08-17T20:16:37

Why is there a T? Is there an option I have forgotten?

Answer 1

The T is just a standard (ISO 8601) way to delimit the time. To use a different format, consider using strftime or format_cldr.

For example, to have a space instead, use DateTime->now->format_cldr("YYYY-MM-dd hh:mm:ss").

Answer 2

Stringifying a DateTime object uses the ISO 8601 format unless you have specified a formatter in the constructor. See Formatters and Stringification in the docs. The iso8601 method is:

sub iso8601 { join 'T', $_[0]->ymd('-'), $_[0]->hms(':') }