Format Property - Date/Time Data Type
You can set the Format property to predefined date and time formats or use custom formats for the Date/Time data type.
Setting
Predefined Formats
The following table shows the predefined Format property settings for the Date/Time data type.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| General Date | (Default) If the value is a date only, no time is displayed; if the value is a time only, no date is displayed. This setting is a combination of the Short Date and Long Time settings.
Examples: 4/3/93, 05:34:00 PM, and 4/3/93 05:34:00 PM. |
| Long Date | Same as the Long Date setting in the regional settings of Windows.
Example: Saturday, April 3, 1993. |
| Medium Date | Example: 3-Apr-93. |
| Short Date | Same as the Short Date setting in the regional settings of Windows.
Example: 4/3/93. Warning The Short Date setting assumes that dates between 1/1/00 and 12/31/29 are twenty-first century dates (that is, the years are assumed to be 2000 to 2029). Dates between 1/1/30 and 12/31/99 are assumed to be twentieth century dates (that is, the years are assumed to be 1930 to 1999). |
| Long Time | Same as the setting on the Time tab in the regional settings of Windows.
Example: 5:34:23 PM. |
| Medium Time | Example: 5:34 PM. |
| Short Time | Example: 17:34. |
Custom Formats
You can create custom date and time formats by using the following symbols.
| Symbol | Description |
|---|---|
| : (colon) | Time separator. Separators are set in the regional settings of Windows. |
| / | Date separator. |
| c | Same as the General Date predefined format. |
| d | Day of the month in one or two numeric digits, as needed (1 to 31). |
| dd | Day of the month in two numeric digits (01 to 31). |
| ddd | First three letters of the weekday (Sun to Sat). |
| dddd | Full name of the weekday (Sunday to Saturday). |
| ddddd | Same as the Short Date predefined format. |
| dddddd | Same as the Long Date predefined format. |
| w | Day of the week (1 to 7). |
| ww | Week of the year (1 to 53). |
| m | Month of the year in one or two numeric digits, as needed (1 to 12). |
| mm | Month of the year in two numeric digits (01 to 12). |
| mmm | First three letters of the month (Jan to Dec). |
| mmmm | Full name of the month (January to December). |
| q | Date displayed as the quarter of the year (1 to 4). |
| y | Number of the day of the year (1 to 366). |
| yy | Last two digits of the year (01 to 99). |
| yyyy | Full year (0100 to 9999). |
| h | Hour in one or two digits, as needed (0 to 23). |
| hh | Hour in two digits (00 to 23). |
| n | Minute in one or two digits, as needed (0 to 59). |
| nn | Minute in two digits (00 to 59). |
| s | Second in one or two digits, as needed (0 to 59). |
| ss | Second in two digits (00 to 59). |
| ttttt | Same as the Long Time predefined format. |
| AM/PM | Twelve-hour clock with the uppercase letters "AM" or "PM", as appropriate. |
| am/pm | Twelve-hour clock with the lowercase letters "am" or "pm", as appropriate. |
| A/P | Twelve-hour clock with the uppercase letter "A" or "P", as appropriate. |
| a/p | Twelve-hour clock with the lowercase letter "a" or "p", as appropriate. |
| AMPM | Twelve-hour clock with the appropriate morning/afternoon designator as defined in the regional settings of Windows. |
Custom formats are displayed according to the settings specified in the regional settings of Windows. Custom formats inconsistent with the settings specified in the regional settings of Windows are ignored.
Note If you want to add a comma or other separator to a custom format, enclose the separator in quotation marks as follows: mmm d", "yyyy.
Example
The following are examples of custom date/time formats.
| Setting | Display |
|---|---|
| ddd", "mmm d", "yyyy | Mon, Jun 2, 1997 |
| mmmm dd", "yyyy | June 02, 1997 |
| "This is week number "ww | This is week number 22 |
| "Today is "dddd | Today is Tuesday |
You could use a custom format to display "A.D." before or "B.C." after a year depending on whether a positive or negative number is entered. To see this custom format work, create a new table field, set its data type to Number, and enter a format as follows:
"A.D. " #;# " B.C."
Positive numbers are displayed as years with an "A.D." before the year. Negative numbers are displayed as years with a "B.C." after the year.