Date and time formatting in BW

Note: BW is only supported in LN 10.3 and earlier versions.

In BW, formatting of date and time fields is based on the Windows date and time settings and the LN format codes that are linked to the fields. Format codes refer to formats that are defined in the Date Formats (ttadv4580m000) and Time Formats (ttadv4586m000) sessions. A format determines, for example, whether a date field shows the year with or without the century. Or whether a time field shows only hours and minutes and no seconds.

Date formatting

This section describes how the Windows settings and the LN date formats are combined and used to format date fields in BW.

The properties of the field format are retrieved and verified. If the format is defined to use week numbers and no day number is defined, this format is incompatible with the Windows Date control.

This table shows how the format’s properties are changed in that scenario:


Property	Value
Day Number	In Month
Day Name	None
Month Number	Number
Month Name	Abbreviated
Year Number	With Century

Note: If the ERP format specifies that the Day Name or the Month Name must be displayed, the Windows long format is used; otherwise, the Windows short format is used.

This Windows format is then combined with the ERP format. The Windows format determines the order of the individual parts. The ERP format determines how the individual parts are formatted.

This table shows the rules that are applied:


Format d or dd Day number of the month	This format is used if the ERP format uses a day number, otherwise, this format is skipped. This format is mapped to the day number of the month. This is regardless of whether the ERP format uses the day number of the week or the day number of the year. If the Zero Fill check box in the Date Formats (ttadv4180s000) session is selected, Windows format dd is used, otherwise format d is used.
Format ddd or dddd Day name of the week	This format is used, regardless of whether the ERP format does not use day numbers. If the ERP format uses complete day names, Windows format dddd is used. If the ERP format uses abbreviated names, ddd is used. If the ERP format does not specify which format to use, the current Windows format is used.
Format M or MM Month numbers	This format is used if the ERP format uses a month number; otherwise, this format is skipped. If the Zero Fill check box in the Date Formats (ttadv4180s000) session is selected, Windows format MM is used; otherwise format M is used.
Format MMM or MMMM Month names	This format is used if the ERP format uses a month name or a month number. If the ERP format uses complete month names, Windows format MMMM is used. If the ERP format uses abbreviated names, MMM is used. If the ERP format does not specify which format to use, the current Windows format is used.
Format yy or yyyy Year numbers	This format is used, regardless of whether the ERP format does not use the year number. If the ERP format uses years with the century, Windows format yyyy is used. If the century is not required, the Zero Fill check box determines whether format yy or y is used. Note: When the cursor is in a date field, the year is displayed with the century.
Any literal text between single quotes	The specified text is used.
Any character	This is treated as a date separator. The first time a character such as the period (.) is found in a date, that character is used as the date separator. If different characters are used as date separators, this character is used in place of the other characters. For example, Windows format dd.MM-yyyy becomes dd.MM.yyyy.

Example 1

This table shows the Windows date formats for a Dutch user:


Short Date	d-M-yyyy For example, 9-1-2012
Long Date	dddd d MMMM yyyy For example, ‎maandag ‎9 ‎januari ‎2012

A date field uses ERP format 001. This table shows the properties for this format:


Day Name	None
Day Number	In Month
Week Number	None
Month Name	None
Month Number	Number
Year Number	Without century
Zero Fill	Yes

Because no Day Name or Month Name is defined, the date is formatted based on the Windows Short Date format. The date value is formatted as dd-MM-yy, for example, 09-01-12.

Example 2

This table shows the Windows date formats for a user in the United States:


Short Date	M/d/yy For example, 1/9/12
Long Date	dddd, MMMM dd yyyy For example, Monday, January 09, ‎2012

A date field uses ERP format 002. This table shows the properties for this format:


Day Name	None
Day Number	In Month
Week Number	None
Month Name	None
Month Number	Number
Year Number	With century
Zero Fill	Yes

Because no Day Name or Month Name is defined, the date is formatted based on the Windows Short Date format.

The date value is formatted as: MM/dd/yyyy, for example, 01/09/2012.

Example 3

This table shows the Windows date formats for a user in the United States, the same as in example 2:


Short Date	M/d/yy For example, 1/9/12
Long Date	dddd, MMMM dd yyyy For example, Monday, January 09, ‎2012

A date field uses ERP format 003. This table shows the properties for this format:


Day Name	None
Day Number	In Month
Week Number	None
Month Name	Abbreviated
Month Number	None
Year Number	With century
Zero Fill	No

Because the abbreviated Month Name must be used, the date is formatted based on the Windows Long Date format. The date value is formatted as: dddd, MMM d yyyy, for example, Monday, Jan 9 2012.

Example 4

This table shows the Windows date formats for a German user:


Short Date	dd.MM.yyyy For example, ‎09.‎01.‎2012
Long Date	dddd, d. MMMM yyyy For example, ‎Montag, ‎9. ‎Januar ‎2012

A date field uses ERP format 008. This table shows the properties for this format:


Day Name	Complete
Day Number	In month
Week Number	None
Month Name	Complete
Month Number	None
Year Number	With century
Zero Fill	Yes

Because the complete Day Name and Month Name must be used, the date is formatted based on the Windows Long Date format. The date value is formatted as dddd, dd. MMMM yyyy, for example, Montag, 09. Januar 2012.

Time formatting

This section describes how the Windows settings and the LN time formats are used to format time fields in BW.

The data of the field format is retrieved and combined with the Windows time format. The Windows format determines the order of the individual parts; the ERP format determines how the individual parts are formatted.

Note: In all scenarios, the Windows long time format is used.

This table shows the rules that are applied:


Format h or hh 12 hour notation	This is mapped to the Windows hh format.
Format H or HH 24 hour notation	This is mapped to the Windows HH format.
Format m or mm Minutes	If the ERP format uses minutes, this is mapped to the Windows mm format.
Format s or ss Seconds	If the ERP format uses seconds, this is mapped to the Windows ss format.
Format tt AM or PM symbol	This is taken over.
Any character	The first time a character such as the colon (:) is found in a time value, that character is used as the time separator.

Example 1

A user has this Windows long time format: H:mm:ss

A time field uses ERP format 003. This table shows the properties for this format:


Hour Format	12 Hour Format
Minutes	No
Seconds	No

The time value is formatted as HH, for example, 16, which is four o’clock in the afternoon.

Example 2

A user has this Windows long time format: H:mm:ss

A time field uses ERP format 099. This table shows the properties for this format:


Hour Format	12 Hour Format
Minutes	Yes
Seconds	No

The time value is formatted as: HH:mm, for example, 16:24.

Example 3

A user has this Windows long time format: h:mm:ss tt

A Time field uses ERP format 001. This table shows the properties for this format:


Hour Format	24 Hour Format
Minutes	Yes
Seconds	Yes

The time value is formatted as hh:mm:ss tt, for example, 04:24:37 PM.