Date display formats

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

date-format;null-format

Special characters

Table 6-4 shows characters that have special meaning in date display formats.

**Table 6-4: Characters with special meaning in data display formats**
Character	Meaning	Example
d	Day number with no leading zero	9
dd	Day number with leading zero if appropriate	09
ddd	Day name abbreviation	Mon
dddd	Day name	Monday
m	Month number with no leading zero	6
mm	Month number with leading zero if appropriate	06
mmm	Month name abbreviation	Jun
mmmm	Month name	June
yy	Two-digit year	97
yyyy	Four-digit year	1997

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

About 2-digit years If users specify a 2-digit year in a DataWindow object, Sybase WorkSpace assumes the date is the 20th century if the year is greater than or equal to 50. If the year is less than 50, Sybase WorkSpace assumes the 21st century. For example:

1/1/85 is interpreted as January 1, 1985.
1/1/40 is interpreted as January 1, 2040.

Date keywords

You can use the following keywords as date display formats when you want Sybase WorkSpace to determine an appropriate format to use:

[ShortDate]
[LongDate]

The format used is determined by the regional settings for date in the registry. Note that [Date] is not a valid display format.

Examples

Table 6-5 shows how the date Friday, January 30, 1998, displays when different format masks are applied.

**Table 6-5: Date display format examples**
Format	Displays
[red]m/d/yy	1/30/98 in red
d-mmm-yy	30-Jan-98
dd-mmmm	30-January
mmm-yy	Jan-98
dddd, mmm d, yyyy	Friday, Jan 30, 1998