The D code converts dates from internal to output format and from output to internal format.
Input conversion is valid, but Special Processing Operators except S are ignored. See Input Conversion: Notes and Examples.
D codes are generally specified as input/output (attribute 7) codes since dates need to be in internal format (an integer representing days before or after the 31st December 1967) for most selection and sort processing.
However, special processing operators, apart from S, must be specified as pre-processor (attribute 8) codes to enable selection or sort processing.
D{operator}{yearFormat}{inputField}{outputSeparator}
operator Special Processing Operators.
yearFormat A number (0-4) that specifies the number of digits (starting from the right) to be output for the year field. If omitted, the processor outputs a four-digit year. If yearFormat is 0, all digits for the year are suppressed.
inputField An input field specification consisting of a field delimiter character followed by the number of fields that must be skipped to locate the date field. See Dates Within Strings for more details.
outputSeparator A non-numeric character to separate the output fields (day, month and year). Cannot be a special processing operator. The default is a space.
Omitting outputSeparator also generates the three-letter abbreviation for the month. If outputSeparator is specified, the numeric value of the month is generated. See also Default Output Format.
Special processing operators generate only part of a date, or process dates specially, as follows (see also Output Conversion Examples):
AM Administrative month number, based on the first two months of each quarter having four weeks and the third month having five weeks.
AW Administrative week number, which ends on Sunday. For example, 1987 had 53 weeks. The scheme conforms to ISO 8601.
AY Administrative year, based on each week number starting on Sunday.
D Day of the month as a numeric value.
I Converts a date stored in external format into internal format. The date returned depends on the elements and delimiters of the external date to be converted, and on the date format currently in effect (see Default Output Format), as shown in Input Conversion: Notes and Examples.
Note: You can use this as an input/output or pre-processor code.
J Julian day (ddd, 001 to 365 or 001 to 366 for a leap year).
JY Year and julian day (yyddd).
M Month number (1-12).
MA Month name (January - December).
MI Date as two-digit year, followed by month, followed by day, with no separators.
MI4 Date as four-digit year, followed by month, followed by day, with no separators.
Ppicture Date picture (see below).
Q Number of the quarter (1-4).
S Date as year-month-day (with four-digit year, numeric month and hyphen separators).
W Day of the week as a number (1-7: Monday-Sunday).
WA Day of the week in letters (Monday - Sunday).
Y Year (up to four digits, as set by parameter yearFormat).
If you do not specify a special processing operator or an output separator, the default output format is two-digit day, space, three-letter month, space, four-digit year.
If you specify just an output separator, the date format defaults either to the US numeric format mmsddsyyyy or to the international numeric format ddsmmsyyyy, depending on the numeric format currently in effect as follows:
If you require the abbreviated month name within converted dates to be output in all uppercase, set the UCASEDATES option in your operating environment.
The inputField parameter allows you to extract a date field from a string that comprises fields separated by a delimiter character, with the following conditions:
If the D code is D%1 and
the stored data is ABC%2704, the processor skips one field (ABC) and returns
2704 in output format, as the string 27 MAY 1975.
The P special processing operator allows you to customise the appearance of dates. The picture parameter can contain any combination of the following elements:
| Picture Element | Description | Examples | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture | Data | Result | ||
| M{fieldWidth} | Month number. fieldWidth is one or more digits, specifying the field width; the number is right aligned within a field of zeros. |
M M5 |
15335 15335 |
|
| M{fieldWidth}A{[L||T]} | Month name.
The default is upper case. |
M3AT | 15335 | Dec |
| W{fieldWidth} | Weekday number; 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday). fieldWidth is one or more digits, specifying the field width; the number is right aligned within a field of zeros. |
W W7 |
15335 15335 |
|
| W{fieldWidth}A{[L||T]} | Weekday name.
The default is upper case. |
W3AL | 15335 | fri |
| D{fieldWidth}{S{[L||T]}} | Day of the month.
|
D D3 D7SL |
15335 15335 15335 |
|
| Y{fieldWidth} | Year. fieldWidth is one or more digits, specifying the field width; the number is right aligned within a field of zeros. |
Y Y6 Y2 |
15335 15335 15335 |
|
"string" 'string' |
Literal text. | "Today is " WAT "." | 15335 | Today is Friday. |
Unless enclosed in quotes (literal text), spaces in the date picture are ignored.
Dates are stored internally as integers representing the days (plus or minus) from the base date "31 December 1967". For example:
| Date | Stored Value |
|---|---|
| 30 December 1967 | -1 |
| 31 December 1967 | 0 |
| 01 January 1968 | 1 |
| 09 April 1968 | 100 |
| 17 December 1987 | 7291 |
If the year is not specified in the sentence, the processor assumes the current year on input conversion. If the last two digits of the year are specified, the processor assumes the following:
00-29 = 2000-2029
30-99 = 1930-1999
For input conversion, the following date formats are recognised:
| Format | Notes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| DDsMMMsYY{YY} | 25 Dec 75, 10-Apr-2002 | |
| DDsMMsYY{YY} | If international date format set. | 25/12/1975, 10-04-2002 |
| MMMsDDsYY{YY} | Dec 25 75, Apr-10-2002 | |
| MMsDDsYY{YY} | If standard date format set. | 12/25/1975, 04-10-2002 |
| YYDDD | DDD is day number from beginning of year. | 75359, 02100 |
| YYMMDD | 751225, 020410 | |
| {YY}YYsMMMsDD | Use S special processing operator and hyphen separator only. | 75-Dec-25, 2002-Apr-10 |
| {YY}YYsMMsDD | Use S special processing operator and hyphen separator only. | 75-12-25, 2002-04-10 |
| MMMsDD | Dec 25, Apr-10 | |
| DDsMMM | 25 Dec, 10-Apr |
Notes:
| D Code | Internal Value | Value Returned |
|---|---|---|
| D | 15335 | 25 Dec 2009 |
| D/ | 15335 | 25/12/2009 |
| D- | 15335 | 25-12-2009 |
| D0 | 15335 | 25 Dec |
| D2* | 15335 | 25*12*09 |
| DAM | 15335 | 12 |
| DAW | 15335 | 52 |
| DAY | 15335 | 2009 |
| DD | 15335 | 25 |
| DI | 28 APR 2001 | 12172 (internal representation of 28 Apr 2001) |
| DI | 280401 | 22007 (internal representation of 1 Apr 2028) |
| DJ | 15335 | 359 |
| DM | 15335 | 12 |
| DMA | 15335 | December |
| DMI | 12172 | 010428 |
| DMI4 | 12172 | 20010428 |
| DQ | 15335 | 4 |
| DS | 12172 | 2001-04-28 |
| DW | 15335 | 5 |
| DWA | 15335 | Friday |
| DY | 15335 | 2009 |
| DY2 | 15335 | 09 |
| DPMAT " " DSL " "Y | 15335 | December 25th 2009 |
| D%1 | ABC%2916 | 25 Dec 1975 |
| D0%1- | ABC%2916 | 25-12 |
In the last two examples, the D code extracts the date following a separator embedded in the data.