date(
date(
TEXT
)

The date( function converts text into a number representing a date.

Parameters

This function has one parameter:

text – The text to be converted into a date.

Description

This function takes a text value and converts it into a number representing the date. The number is the number of days since January 1, 4713 B.C. For example, if the text is August 7, 1991 this function will return the number 2,448,476. Here are some examples of valid dates:

    5/7/96
    August 8, 1957
    may 12
    12 may
    apr
    June 4th, 2011
    2011-06-04
    today
    yesterday
    tomorrow
    tuesday
    last fri
    next monday

(Note: The fifth example, apr, is equivalent to April 1st.)

The function allows any character to be used as a separator. All of the dates listed below are equivalent:

    4/2/98
    4-2-98
    4 2 98
    4.2.98
    April 2 98
    April.2.98
    April 2nd, 98
    2-apr-98
    2 april 98

Examples:

    date("7/4/1776")☞ 2369916
    date("yesterday")☞ 2457260

Panorama also fills in a missing century. Panorama will assume the date is in the past unless it would be within the next five years. If you want to specify a date more than five years in the future, simply be sure to fill in the entire century rather than just the last two digits of the year, for example `7/2/2044`.

If the year is left unspecified, Panorama will assume the date is within a twelve month period, consisting of the previous nine months, the current month, and the next two months. For example, if the current month is March, the date will be assumed to lie between June 1st of the previous year and May 31st of the current year.

Error Messages

Illegal Date – This error occurs if the function does not understand the date. For example “dates” like 19/45/2912 or Monopoly 7 would produce this error.

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.
- 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.
- dayofmonth( -- computes the day within a month.
- dayofquarter( -- computes the day within a quarter.
- dayofweek( -- computes the day of the week, with Sunday being 0, Monday 1, etc.
- dayofyear( -- computes the day within a quarter.
- 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.
- naturaldate( -- converts a number representing a date into text using "natural" formatting.
- 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 | No Change | Carried over from Panorama 6.0 (however, this version is a bit more tolerant on date formatting than previous versions were).