DMY(), MDY()

DMY() returns a character string in the form day-month-year, and MDY returns month-day-year, when supplied with a date or datetime variable.

Usage

lcDateToDisplay = DMY( dDate | tDateTime )
lcDateToDisplay = MDY( dDate | tDateTime )

Neither of these two functions has much going in the user-friendly department. Both DMY() and MDY() precede a single-digit day with a zero, and both display two-digit years if CENTURY is set OFF. We would typically use these functions to display a date on a report, and both fall short of our standards for that task.

The following function produces a much prettier version of DMY(), always returning a four-digit year field and not preceding single-digit values with a zero:

* GoodDmy.PRG - return a prettier DMY value
* Parameter: tdDate - a date or datetime value
*            default - today's date
* Returns: String of form DD Mmmmmm YYYY
PARAMETER tdDate
IF EMPTY(tdDate) OR NOT INLIST(type('tdDate'),"D","T")
  tdDate = DATE()
ENDIF
RETURN PADL(DAY(tdDate),2) + " " + ;
       CMONTH(tdDate) + " " + ;
       STR(YEAR(tdDate),4)

MDY() returns a character string in the form MMM DD, YY (or YYYY, depending on SET CENTURY). Like the DMY() function, this one isn’t too smart, preceding single-digit dates with a zero, and displaying years as two-digit numbers if CENTURY is set OFF. A better version is:

* GoodMDY.PRG - return a prettier MDY value
* Parameter: tDate - a date or datetime value
*            default - today's date
* Returns: String of form Mmmmmm DD, YYYY
PARAMETER tdDate
IF EMPTY(tdDate) OR NOT INLIST(TYPE('tdDate'),"D","T")
  tdDate = DATE()
ENDIF
RETURN CMONTH(tdDate) + " " + ;
       LTRIM(STR(DAY(tdDate))) + ", " + ;
       STR(YEAR(tdDate),4)

Example

? DMY({03/18/1954})  && returns "18 March 1954"
? DMY({01/01/01})    && returns "01 January 01" with CENTURY OFF
? MDY({03/18/1954})  && returns "March 18, 1954"

See Also

Day(), Dow(), Date(), DateTime(), GoMonth(), Month(), Set Century, Set Date, Set Mark To, Year()