Date binary encoding in SPSS .sav files

[Pascal Heus]

Hi:
I'm currently developing a Java class to read SPSS files. I found the
documention that describes the .sav file format and have made good
progress so far. I'm doing fine reading numbers and strings but am
trying to figure out the way dates are encoded. Could anyone provide me
with an insight on the binary storage for date/time or point me to docs
/ pspp source code?
Also let me know if you are interested in a Java version of a SPSS
reader, this will be released under the LGPL over the summer as a
component of a larger project. It will also include the export of XML
metadata based on the Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) XML
specifications. I have no current plan to turn it into a writer as well
but this should not be too hard if the need arises.
thanks
*P