Date Formatting
If a column is set to the 'date' column type, you control the exact date format of the column. Also, a pop-up calendar makes it easy for date values to be entered.
To set a column's type to be 'date':
- Edit the structure of the table.
- In the top 'Structure' panel, double-click or press the space bar in the 'Type' column in the cell that corresponds to the column you are changing.
- Choose the 'Date' type.
- The date format dialog will appear.
Once you've double-clicked in the 'Extra Type Info' cell, you will see a dialog that lets you control the date formatting for that date column. In the below example the date will appear as "01/25/11":
The Date Format Dialog pops up with the current (or default) format string filled in. The format string consists of a set of Date Format Markers to indicate how the date value is to be formatted for display. You can include other (non-%) characters (such as spaces or a comma) in the format to help with the readability of the date.
Date Format Markers: The following character are understood by the date formatting code. The user can embed them in any string to add custom separators or additional descriptive text.
Format string can contain any separator character and any element from the following list:
%j - day as number ( no leading zero )
%D - abbreviated name of the day
%l - full name of the day
%m - month as number ( with leading zero )
%n - month as number ( no leading zero )
%M - abbreviated name of the month
%F - full name of the month
%y - year as number (2 digits)
%Y - year as number (4 digits)
Date Format Examples:
%m/%d/%Y == 01/25/1980
%j-%n-%y == 25-1-80
%F %j, %l == January 25, Friday
Changing an Existing Date Format
If a column is already of type date, you can get the date format dialog to appear by double-clicking in the 'Extra Type Info' cell to the right of the date cell.
