When a Column data type is set to Date it is necessary to specify the date format to be used. This is done by the parameter
dateformat
(Note: if no data format is specified then a default format of MM/dd/yyyy is assumed.)
The Date format parameter specifies the pattern that dates will follow in the data. For example if your dates are in the default
format you would have,
<param name="dateformat" value="MM/dd/yyyy">
or if the elements of the date were seperated by a "." (rather than a "/"),
<param name="dateformat" value="MM.dd.yyyy">
(Please note: Month is represented by an Upper Case M whilst day and year are lower case d and y.)
Here are some common Date Format Examples
| MM/dd/yyyy |
04/14/2003 |
| MM/dd/yy |
04/14/03 |
| dd MMMM yyyy |
24 January 2003 |
| dd/MM/yyyy |
28/02/2003 |
| dd.MM.yyyy |
28.02.2003 |
| EEE, MMM d, ''yy |
Wed, April 16 '03 |
In addition, Time may also be incorporated into the date format. Here are some Examples incorporating Time,
| Format Pattern |
Date Example |
| yyyy.MM.dd G 'at' hh:mm:ss z |
1996.07.10 AD at 15:08:56 PDT |
| h:mm a |
12:08 PM |
| hh 'o''clock' a, zzzz |
12 o'clock PM, Pacific Daylight Time |
| K:mm a, z |
0:00 PM, PST |
| yyyyy.MMMMM.dd GGG hh:mm aaa |
1996.July.10 AD 12:08 PM |
As you can see it is possible to define virtually any pattern to match the format of your data. Here are the full range of
characters and thier meanings when used within the Date Format parameter,
| Symbol |
Meaning |
Example |
| G |
era designator |
AD |
| y |
year |
2003 |
| M |
Month |
July or 07 |
| d |
day in the month |
10 |
| h |
hour in am/pm (1-12) |
11 |
| H |
hour in the day (0-23) |
21 |
| m |
minute in the hour |
55 |
| s |
second in the minute |
30 |
| S |
miilisecond |
978 |
| E |
day in the week |
Tuesday |
| D |
day in the year |
234 |
| w |
week in the year |
27 |
| W |
week in the month |
2 |
| a |
am / pm marker |
PM |
| k |
hour in the day (1-24) |
24 |
| K |
hour in am/pm (0-11) |
0 |
| z |
time zone |
Eastern Standard Time |
|
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