The source date (or app date, or source day) is the date at the source of which system activity has occurred, independent of time.
The most prevalent use of source date relates to the activity timestamp of a transaction, although source dates are not limited only to transactions. Throughout Kognitiv Loyalty, date ranges (without times) are utilized in segmentation, promotions and reporting. In these areas, source dates are used to simplify issues that may be caused by having locations within the same database that originate in multiple timezones.
Example: Two transactions occur simultaneously at September 7, 2016 8:23pm (UTC) in Paris and in Singapore.
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Transaction #1 (Paris)
- Occurs at September 7, 2016 10:23pm local time.
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Transaction #2 (Singapore)
- Occurs at September 8, 2016 4:23am local time.
In the examples above, the Paris transaction is assigned a source date of September 7, 2016, while the Singapore transaction is assigned a source date of September 8, 2016.
Please note, correct recording of source date is dependent on accurate data reporting and appropriate system configuration. For example, if all transactions are funneled through a common location and without some form of local time translation, then source dates will technically be incorrect.