Time display formats

Time display formats can have two sections. The first is required and contains the format for times; the second is optional and specifies how to represent NULLs:

time-format;null-format

Special characters

Table 22-6 shows characters that have special meaning in time display formats.

Table 22-6: Characters with special meaning in time display formats

Character

Meaning

h

Hour with no leading zero (for example, 1)

hh

Hour with leading zero if appropriate (for example, 01)

m

Minute with no leading zero (must follow h or hh)

mm

Minute with leading zero if appropriate (must follow h or hh)

s

Second with no leading zero (must follow m or mm)

ss

Second with leading zero (must follow m or mm)

ffffff

Microseconds with no leading zeros. You can enter one to six f’s; each f represents a fraction of a second (must follow s or ss)

AM/PM

Two-character, uppercase abbreviation (AM or PM as appropriate)

am/pm

Two-character, lowercase abbreviation (am or pm as appropriate)

A/P

One-character, uppercase abbreviation (A or P as appropriate)

a/p

One-character, lowercase abbreviation (a or p as appropriate)

Colons, slashes, and spaces display as entered in the mask.

Note24-hour format is the default Times display in 24-hour format unless you specify AM/PM, am/pm, A/P, or a/p.

Time keyword

You can use the following keyword as a time display format to specify the format specified in the Windows control panel:

Examples

Table 22-7 shows how the time 9:45:33:234567 PM displays when different format masks are applied.

Table 22-7: Time display format examples

Format

Displays

h:mm AM/PM

9:45 PM

hh:mm A/P

09:45 P

h:mm:ss am/pm

9:45:33 pm

h:mm

21:45

h:mm:ss

21:45:33

h:mm:ss:f

21:45:33:2

h:mm:ss:fff

21:45:33:234

h:mm:ss:ffffff

21:45:33:234567

m/d/yy h:mm

1/30/98 21:45