Date and time rule functions

This topic describes the available date and time rule functions.

DATE

Returns a date string corresponding to day number.

Syntax

DATE(Value)

Value is an integer or a formula which returns an integer. Day number 1 corresponds to January 1st, 1960. Negative numbers correspond to prior years. The date strings returned have the format 'yy-mm-dd'. Years in the 21st century through the year 2059 are represented by the numbers 00 through 59.

Example

DATE(731) returns "61-12-31"

DATE(20000) returns "14-10-03"

Non-integral numbers entered as arguments to this function will be rounded up to the next integer.

DATES

Returns a date string, in the form yy-mm-dd.

Syntax

DATES(Year, Month, Day)

Where Year, Month and Day are integers. Values entered for Year 60 through 99 correspond to the years 1960 through 1999. Values entered for Year from 00 through 59 correspond to the years 2000 through 2059. Month must be an integer between 1 and 12. Day must be an integer between 1 and 31.

Example

DATES(08, 2, 10) returns "08-02-10"

DAYNO

Returns the day number which corresponds to a date entered in string format.

Syntax

DAYNO(Datestring)

Where Datestring is a string in the format yyyy-mm-dd.

Day number 1 corresponds to January 1st, 1960. Negative numbers correspond to prior years.

Example

DAYNO('1962-01-01') returns "732"

Note: Strings used as arguments for rules functions must be enclosed in single quotes.

FV

Returns the value of an annuity at the time of the final payment. Here, 'annuity' is a series of equal payments made at equal points in time.

Syntax

FV(Payment, InterestRate, Periods)

Where Payment is the amount paid, InterestRate is the interest rate paid per period, and Periods is the number of periods in the annuity. Payments are assumed to be made at the close of each period. All arguments must be numbers or formulas which return numbers.

Examples

The value of an annuity at the end of 10 years, with payments of $10,000 per year at 10% interest, is given by:

FV(10000, 0.10, 10) returns "-159,374.25"

The value of an annuity at the end of 10 years, with payments of $100 per month at 10% per year, is given by:

FV(100, .10/12, 120) returns "-20,484.50"

Note: Numbers entered as arguments in rules must be entered with a period as the decimal separator. Commas must not be used as thousands separators. This is true whatever the decimal separator indicated under your Windows international settings.

TODAY

Returns the current date in the format yyyy-mm-dd.

Syntax

TODAY

This function has no arguments.