Date

version 3

Date (dateString) Date

The Date command evaluates dateString and returns a date.

The dateString parameter must follow the normal rules for the date format.

In the US version of 4D, the date must be in the order MM/DD/YY (month, day, year). The month and day can be one or two digits. The year can be two or four digits. If the year is two digits, then Date considers whether the date belongs to the 21st or 20th century according to the value entered. By default, the pivotal value is 30:

• If the value is greater than or equal to 30, 4D considers the century to be the 20th and adds 19 to the beginning of the value.

• If the value is less than 30, 4D considers the century to be the 21st and adds 20 to the beginning of the value. This mechanism can be configured using the SET DEFAULT CENTURY command.

The following characters are valid date separators: slash (/), space, period (.), and comma (,).

Date does not check whether or not dateString is a valid date. If an invalid date (such as "13/35/94") is passed, Date will return the invalid date. However, if dateString could not possibly be interpreted as a date (for example, "aa/12/94"), the null date value (!00/00/00!) is returned.

It is your responsibility to verify that dateString is a valid date.

1. The following example uses a request box to prompt the user for a date. The string entered by the user is converted to a date and stored in the reqDate variable:

   vdRequestedDate:=Date(Request ("Please enter the date:";String(Current date)))
   If (OK=1)
      ` Do something with the date now stored in vdRequestedDate
   End if

2. The following example returns the string "12/12/94" as a date:

   vdDate:=Date("12/12/94")

SET DEFAULT CENTURY.