Custom Date and Time Format Strings |
When you have a date or time as your data source, you can format it according to the locale of your language and geographical region.
To define a custom date or time format
Double-click the desired object to open the Object Properties dialog. Alternatively, select Properties from the object's context menu.
Click the data source containing the date or time to open the Data Sources property page.
Click the Data Type tab.
From the Type dropdown list, select Date or Time.
From the Locale dropdown list, select the desired locale.
In the Format list, select <Custom>.
In the Pattern field, enter the desired date or time strings (described below). Spaces will be treated as literal characters. You can also separate date fields with a forward slash (/) and time fields with a colon (:). The Sample field displays a preview of how your date or time will appear.
For example:
@d returns 3/12/2015
dddd, @m returns Thursday, March 12
6:m:ss tt returns 6:45:05 PM
The following format strings are available when defining a custom format for a date or time. Some of the following strings are not available for all locales.
Format Specifier |
Description |
Sample, given the date January 2, 2004 |
---|---|---|
/ |
The date separator, based on the selected locale |
|
d |
The day of the month, from 1 through 31 |
2 |
dd |
The day of the month, from 01 through 31 |
02 |
ddd |
The abbreviated name of the day of the week |
Fri |
dddd |
The full name of the day of the week |
Friday |
M |
The month, from 1 through 12 |
1 |
MM |
The month, from 01 through 12 |
01 |
MMM |
The abbreviated name of the month |
Jan |
MMMM |
The full name of the month |
January |
y |
The year, from 0 to 99 |
4 |
yy |
The year, from 00 to 99 |
04 |
yyy |
The year, with a minimum of three digits |
2004 |
yyyy |
The year, as a four-digit number |
2004 |
yyyyy |
The year, as a five-digit number |
02004 |
Y |
The last digit of the year, from 0 to 9 |
4 |
YY |
The last two digits of the year, from 00 to 99 |
04 |
YYY |
The last three digits of the year, from 000 to 999 |
004 |
j |
Julian date, from 1 to 366 |
2 |
jjj |
Julian date, from 001 to 366 |
002 |
g |
Period or era (B.C./A.D.) |
A.D. |
@d |
Short date pattern |
1/2/2004 |
@D |
Long date pattern |
Friday, January 02, 2004 |
@f |
Full date and time pattern, with short time |
Friday, January 02, 2004 12:00 AM |
@F |
Full date and time pattern, with long time |
Friday, January 02, 2004 12:00:00 AM |
@g |
General date and time pattern, with short time |
1/2/2004 12:00 AM |
@G |
General date and time pattern, with long time |
1/2/2004 12:00:00 AM |
@m |
Month and day pattern |
January 02 |
@y |
Month and year pattern |
January, 2004 |
@r |
RFC1123 pattern |
Fri, 02 Jan 2004 18:54:03 GMT |
Format Specifier |
Description |
Sample, given the time 6:54:03 PM |
---|---|---|
: |
The time separator, based on the selected locale |
|
h |
The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 1 to 12 |
6 |
hh |
The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 01 to 12 |
06 |
H |
The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 0 to 23 |
18 |
HH |
The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 00 to 23 |
18 |
m |
The minute, from 0 to 59 |
54 |
mm |
The minute, from 00 to 59 |
54 |
s |
The second, from 0 to 59 |
3 |
ss |
The second, from 00 to 59 |
03 |
f |
Tenths of a second |
|
ff |
Hundredths of a second |
|
fff |
Thousandths of a second; the millisecond |
|
ffff |
Ten thousandths of a second |
|
fffff |
Hundred thousandths of a second |
|
ffffff |
Millionths of a second; the microsecond |
|
fffffff |
Ten millionths of a second |
|
F |
Tenths of a second, with no trailing zeros |
|
FF |
Hundredths of a second, with no trailing zeros |
|
FFF |
Thousandths of a second, with no trailing zeros; the millisecond |
|
FFFF |
Ten thousandths of a second, with no trailing zeros |
|
FFFFF |
Hundred thousandths of a second, with no trailing zeros |
|
FFFFFF |
Millionths of a second, with no trailing zeros; the microsecond |
|
FFFFFFF |
Ten millionths of a second, with no trailing zeros |
|
t |
The first character of the AM/PM designator |
P |
tt |
The AM/PM designator |
PM |
@t |
Short time pattern |
6:54 PM |
@T |
Long time pattern |
6:54:03 PM |
@f |
Full date and time pattern, with short time |
Friday, January 02, 2004 6:54 PM |
@F |
Full date and time pattern, with long time |
Friday, January 02, 2004 6:54:03 PM |
@g |
General date and time pattern, with short time |
1/2/2004 6:54 PM |
@G |
General date and time pattern, with long time |
1/2/2004 6:54:03 PM |
@r |
RFC1123 pattern |
Fri, 02 Jan 2004 18:54:03 GMT |
Format Specifier |
Description |
Sample, given the date 1/2/2004 and the time 6:54:03 PM |
---|---|---|
'literal' |
Literal string delimiter |
|
\ |
The escape character. |
|
K |
The time zone; returns Z for UTC or an empty value for local time. |
Z |
z |
The number of hours offset from UTC, with no leading zeros |
-8 |
zz |
The number of hours offset from UTC, with a leading zero for a single-digit number |
-08 |
zzz |
The hours and minutes offset from UTC |
-08:00 |
w |
Weekday number, from 0 to 6 (where 0 = Sunday) |
5 |
u |
ISO 8601 weekday number, from 1 to 7 (where 1 = Monday) |
5 |
U |
Week number, from 0 through 53 (where Sunday is the first day of the week) |
0 |
UU |
Week number, from 00 through 53 (where Sunday is the first day of the week) |
00 |
W |
Week number, from 0 to 53 (where Monday is the first day of the week) |
0 |
WW |
Week number, from 00 to 53 (where Monday is the first day of the week) |
00 |
WWW |
Week number, from 1 to 54 (where Monday is the first day of the week) |
1 |
WWWW |
Week number, from 01 to 54 (where Monday is the first day of the week) |
01 |
vvvv |
ISO 8601 week numbering year |
2004 |
VV |
ISO 8601 week number, from 01 to 53 |
01 |