DateToString (Function)

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Validity of the date
Date format
Special case: is not specified

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DateToString (Function)

In french: DateVersChaîne

Converts:

a date to a string in the specified format
a date time to a string in the specified format
You can also use DateTimeToString to convert a date time to a string with a specific format.

Tip: If the formatted date contains the "/" characters, it must not be displayed it in a Date edit control.

Example

Res = DateToString("20191225") // Res = "25/12/2019"
Res = DateToString(IntegerToDate(73773)) // Res = "25/12/2001"
DateToString("") // Returns ""
Res = DateToString("20191225", "MM-DD-YYYY") // Res = "12-25-2019"
Res = DateToString("20791225", "Day # DD of the month # MM, YYYY")
Res = DateToString(DateSys(), maskDateSystem)
// Res uses the format defined in the project

// Day and month capitalization depends on the project language options
Res = DateToString("20031202", "DDD DD MMM YYYY")
// Res = "tue. 02 dec. 2003" or "Tue. 02 Dec. 2003"

Res = DateToString("20031202", "DDDD DD MMMM YYYY")
// Res = "tuesday 02 december 2003" or "Tuesday 02 December 2003"

// You can force the use of uppercase letters for days and months
Res = DateToString("20031202", "Ddd DD Mmm YYYY") // Res = "Tue. 02 Dec. 2003"
Res = DateToString("20031202", "Dddd DD MMMM YYYY") // Res = "Tuesday 02 December 2003"

Res = DateToString("20191125", maskDateEmail)
// Returns "Mon, 25 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0100"

Res = DateToString("20190825", maskDateEmail)
// Returns "Sun, 25 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0200"

Res = DateToString("20191125", maskDateEmailUTC)
// Returns "Sun, 24 Nov 2019 23:00:00 +0000"
Res = DateToString("20190825", maskDateInternet)
// Returns "2019-08-25T00:00:00.000+02:00"
Res = DateToString("20190825", maskDateInternetUTC)
// Returns "2019-08-24T22:00:00.000Z"

// As of 01/22/2019
Res = DateToString("20190101", maskDateRelativeDuration)
// Returns: 3 weeks ago
Res = DateToString("20191125", maskDateRelativeDuration)
// Returns: in 10 months
Res = DateToString("20190118", maskDateRelativeDuration)
// Returns: last week

Syntax

Converting a date to string Hide the details

<Result> = DateToString(<Date> [, <Format>])

<Result>: Character string

Character string in the specified format.

<Date>: Character string or Date variable

Date to convert. If this date corresponds to a string, it must be in YYYYMMDD format (YYYY corresponds to the year, MM to the month and DD to the day).

<Format>: Optional character string

Format of the converted date. This parameter can contain a word, a sentence, ... The characters that represent the different elements of the date (YYYY, YY, MM or DD) will be automatically replaced with the value in the <Date> parameter. In this string:
YYYY represents a 4-digit year,
YY represents a 2-digit year.
M represents the month without a leading zero,
MM represents a 2-digit month,
MMM represents a 3-letter month (e.g., Jan). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Mmm represents a 3-letter month with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., Jan)
This notation is not available.
mmm represents a 3-letter month with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., jan)
This notation is not available.
MMMM represents the month as a full name (e.g., January). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
This notation is not available.
mmmm represents the month as a full name with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., january)
This notation is not available.
D represents the day without a leading zero,
DD represents a 2-digit day,
DDD represents a 3-letter day (e.g., Mon). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Ddd represents a 3-letter day with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., Mon)
This notation is not available.
ddd represents a 3-letter day with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., mon)
This notation is not available.
DDDD represents the day as a full name (e.g., Monday). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Dddd represents the day as a full name with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., Monday).
This notation is not available.
dddd represents the day as a full name with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., monday).
This notation is not available.
M represents the first letter of the day (e.g., M,T,W,T,F,S,S).
If this parameter corresponds to the constant:
maskDateEmail The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-5322 standard used to encrypt an email, an RSS feed, etc, ...
The result is expressed in the local time zone.
Not available.
maskDateEmailUTC The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-5322 standard used to encrypt an email, an RSS feed, etc, ...
The result is expressed in universal time (UTC).
Not available.
maskDateInternet The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-3339 standard used for international communications.
The result is expressed in the local time zone.
maskDateInternetUTC The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-3339 standard used for international communications.
The result is expressed in universal time (UTC).
Not available.
maskDateRelativeDuration This format expresses the time elapsed (or to elapse) between today's date and the specified date. This format is expressed in natural language. The different formulations used can be configured in the project description for the current language:
On the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "Description".
In the "Languages" tab:
select the language to configure.
select the "Date" tab.
Click the "Dates and Times in natural language" button.
Define (if necessary) the custom captions to use. These captions will be used:
for the result of DateToString.
for the controls that use the "Relative duration" display mask.
Not available.
maskDateSystem The format used corresponds to the format defined in the project description for the current language:
On the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "Description".
Select the "Languages" tab then the "Date" tab.
The format used corresponds to:
the settings of the operating system,
the specified parameters (with the defined days and months).

If this parameter is not specified, the DD/MM/YYYY format is used by default.

Converting a datetime to string Hide the details

<Result> = DateToString(<Date and time> [, <Format>])

<Result>: Character string

Character string in the specified format.

<Date and time>: Character string or DateTime variable

Date and time to convert. This parameter can be:
a character string containing the date and time in YYYYMMDDHHmmSSCC format (YYYY corresponds to the year, MM to the month, DD to the day, HH to hours, mm to minutes, SS to seconds and CC to hundredths of a second).
a DateTime variable.

<Format>: Optional character string

Format of the converted date and time. This parameter can contain a word, a sentence, ... The characters that represent the different elements of the date and time will be automatically replaced with the value in the <Date and time> parameter. In this string:
YYYY represents a 4-digit year,
YY represents a 2-digit year,
M represents the month without a leading zero,
MM represents a 2-digit month,
MMM represents a 3-letter month (e.g., Jan). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Mmm represents a 3-letter month with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., Jan)
This notation is not available.
mmm represents a 3-letter month with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., jan)
This notation is not available.
MMMM represents the month as a full name (e.g., January). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Mmmm represents the month as a full name with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., January)
This notation is not available.
mmmm represents the month as a full name with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., january)
This notation is not available.
D represents the day without a leading zero,
DD represents a 2-digit day,
DDD represents a 3-letter day (e.g., Mon). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Ddd represents a 3-letter day with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., Mon)
This notation is not available.
ddd represents a 3-letter day with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., mon)
This notation is not available.
DDDD represents the day as a full name (e.g., Monday). The case used depends on the language options of the project.
Dddd represents the day as a full name with the first letter in uppercase (e.g., Monday)
This notation is not available.
dddd represents the day as a full name with the first letter in lowercase (e.g., monday)
This notation is not available.
M represents the first letter of the day (e.g., M,T,W,T,F,S,S)
HH represents the number of hours,
mm represents the number of minutes,
SS represents the number of seconds,
CC represents the number of hundredths of a second,
AP represents "AM" or "PM" (if "AP" is used, the time is displayed in 12-hour format).
If this parameter corresponds to the constant:
maskDateEmail The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-5322 standard used to encrypt an email, an RSS feed, etc, ...
The result is expressed in the local time zone.
Not available.
maskDateEmailUTC The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-5322 standard used to encrypt an email, an RSS feed, etc, ...
The result is expressed in universal time (UTC).
Not available.
maskDateInternet The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-3339 standard used for international communications.
The result is expressed in the local time zone.
maskDateInternetUTC The format used corresponds to the date format of the RFC-3339 standard used for international communications.
The result is expressed in universal time (UTC).
Not available.
maskDateRelativeDuration This format expresses the time elapsed (or to elapse) between today's date and the specified date. This format is expressed in natural language. The different formulations used can be configured in the project description for the current language:
On the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "Description".
In the "Languages" tab:
select the language to configure.
select the "Date" tab.
Click the "Dates and Times in natural language" button.
Define (if necessary) the custom captions to use. These captions will be used:
for the result of DateToString.
for the controls that use the "Relative duration" display mask.
Not available.
maskDateSystem The format used corresponds to the format defined in the project description for the current language:
On the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "Description".
Select the "Languages" tab then the "Date" tab.
The format used corresponds to:
the settings of the operating system,
the specified parameters (with the defined days and months).

If this parameter is not specified, the DD/MM/YYYY HH:mm:SS:CC format is used by default.

Remarks

Validity of the date

The validity of the date passed as parameter is checked. A message is displayed if the date is invalid. You can check the validity of a date using DateValid. The date storage format allows you to store dates from 01/01/0001 to 12/31/9999.

WLanguage functions and WLanguage properties make accurate calculations on dates from January 1st, 1583.

Date format

DateToString is used to format a date returned by IntegerToDate or DateSys. The result can be assigned to a text control, for example.

To get the date in another format, use Right, Left, Middle, etc.

Special case: <Format> is not specified

The language options specified for dates in the project description are used if no specific format is defined.

To view the project language options:

Open the project description: on the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "Description".
Select the "Languages" tab.

For example:

if the project uses the language options of Windows for the dates, the days of the week and the months will start with an Uppercase character on a computer running Windows in English.
if the project uses specific parameters for the dates for one or more languages (custom name of the day or month, etc.), these parameters will be taken into account for the specified language.

Related Examples:

Unit examples (WINDEV): Management of dates

[ + ] Using the Date type of WLanguage and the functions for handling dates.

Business / UI classification: Neutral code

Component: wd300std.dll