naturaldate(
naturaldate(
DATE
,
PATTERN
)

The naturaldate( function converts a number representing a date into text using “natural” formatting.

Parameters

This function has two parameters:

date – is the number you want to conver to text. This number is treated as the number of days since January 1, 4713 B.C.

pattern – is text that contains three patterns for formatting the date (see Date Patterns), separated by semicolons. The first pattern should specify just the day of the week, for example `Day` or `DayOfWeek` (or an alternate capitalization). The second pattern should specify the month and day, for example `Mon dd`. The third pattern should specify the complete date, for example `MM/DD/YY`. If this parameter is omitted, the function will default to the patterns:

`Day;Mon dd;MM/DD/YY`

Description

This function converts a number representing a date into text using “natural” formatting. The examples below assume today’s date is December 15, 2014.

    naturaldate(today()) ☞ Today
    naturaldate(today()+1) ☞ Tue
    naturaldate(today()+10) ☞ Next Thu
    naturaldate(today()+100) ☞ Mar 25
    naturaldate(today()+200) ☞ 07/03/15
    naturaldate(today()-1) ☞ Sun
    naturaldate(today()-5) ☞ Last Wed
    naturaldate(today()-50) ☞ Oct 26
    naturaldate(today()-200) ☞ 05/29/14

You can customize the output by supplying your own patterns. In these examples, the output is all upper case.

    naturaldate(today(),"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ TODAY
    naturaldate(today()+1,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ TUE
    naturaldate(today()+10,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ NEXT THU
    naturaldate(today()+100,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ MAR 25
    naturaldate(today()+200,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ 07/03/15
    naturaldate(today()-1,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ SUN
    naturaldate(today()-5,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ LAST WED
    naturaldate(today()-50,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ OCT 26
    naturaldate(today()-200,"DAY;MON DD;MM/DD/YY") ☞ 05/29/14

Note: In Panorama 6 there was a separate function if you wanted to supply your own patterns – naturaldatepattern(. Now the naturaldate( function can also include a second parameter with patterns, so the naturaldatepattern( function is superfluous. However, it is still included for compatibility with older databases.

See Also

- calendardate( -- helps in creating monthly calendars.
- calendarday( -- helps in creating monthly calendars.
- Date Patterns -- control how dates are displayed or converted to text.
- date( -- converts text into a number representing a date.
- datepattern( -- converts a number representing a date into text. The function uses a pattern to control how the date is formatted (see Date Patterns).
- datevalue( -- converts integer values for year, month and day into a number representing a date.
- dayofweek( -- computes the day of the week, with Sunday being 0, Monday 1, etc.
- dayvalue( -- extracts the day from a date as a numeric value.
- firstdayofweek( -- returns the user's preference for first day of the week.
- groupdatepattern( -- converts a number representing a date into text in a special format for use with the summarytable( and crosstab( functions. The function uses a pattern to control how the date is formatted (see Date Patterns).
- month1st( -- computes the first day of a month.
- monthlength( -- computes the length (number of days) of a month.
- monthmath( -- takes a date and computes the date that is one or more months before or after the original date.
- monthvalue( -- extracts the month from a date as a numeric value.
- quarter1st( -- computes the first day of a quarter.
- quartervalue( -- extracts the quarter from a date as a numeric value.
- regulardate( -- extracts a regular date (number of days from January 1, 4713 B.C.) from a superdate.
- superdate( -- converts a regular date and a regular time into a superdate.
- superdatepattern( -- converts a number containing a superdate to text, allowing you to specify the patterns for both the date and the time conversion to text.
- superdatesecondsstr( -- converts a number containing a superdate to text, including the seconds.
- superdatestr( -- converts a number containing a superdate (date + time) to text.
- supernow( -- returns the number representing the current date and time as a superdate.
- today( -- returns a number corresponding to today's date.
- week1st( -- computes the first day of a week (Sunday).
- weekvalue( -- extracts the week from a date as a numeric value.
- year1st( -- computes the first day of a year.
- yearvalue( -- extracts the year from a date as a numeric value.

History

Version | Status | Notes
10.0 | Updated | Carried over from Panorama 6.0, but now combines the naturaldate( and naturaldatepattern( functions into a single function. Also, the breakpoint for full dates is now +/- 120 days, instead of 180 days. This function is also much faster than it was in Panorama 6.0.