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CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

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    CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

    I have a table with pre-existing dates in character format such as 07202006.

    I want to convert them to a standard date format such as 07/20/2006.

    I created a second field called "CorrectDate" and placed the following calculation in the field rules: ctod(date) (Where "date" is the original character string date.)

    But nothing happens upon peforming a recalculation of the table. Even removing one of the original character dates, clearing the field, and typing in a new character date does not return anything in the new calculated date field.

    Am I missing something? This is the correct function isn't it??
    Sergeant Richard Hartnett
    Hyattsville City Police Department
    Maryland

    #2
    Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

    Richard,

    Check the help file for a description of what ctod() does. You'll find it requires a formatted date string. I suspect the issue you're having is that "07202006" is not formatted correctly. -- tom

    Comment


      #3
      Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

      Rich,

      Try this:

      date_value(val(right(yourdate,4)),val(left(yourdate,2)),val(substr(yourdate,3,2)))

      There may be a better way - I can't remember all the date functions.

      Tony

      Comment


        #4
        Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

        Hi Tom,

        I guess I'm not following. (Please excuse my ignorance) I got the ctod format from the help file, which reads as follows:

        "CTOD() returns a Date value extracted from a character string. For more information about date formats, see the DATE_FORMAT()function."

        What would need to be different about the character string of 07202006 for it to be "formatted correctly?" (I thought CTOD was formatting it correctly during the calculation.)

        Or better yet, is there a way to accomplish this with a different calculation?

        Thanks
        Sergeant Richard Hartnett
        Hyattsville City Police Department
        Maryland

        Comment


          #5
          Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

          Parameter for ctod() reads

          A variable containing a date value or a character string containing a legitimate representation of a date value (ISDATE(Date_Representation) = .T.).
          Code:
          ? isdate("07202006")
          = .F.
          
          ? isdate("07/20/2006")
          = .T.
          
          
          ? isdate("07/20/06")
          = .T.
          
          
          ? isdate("7/20/2006")
          = .T.
          
          
          ? isdate("7/20/06")
          = .T.
          Not sure if this is a "better" solution but an alternative is

          Code:
          ? mask("07202006","  /  /    ")
          = "07/20/2006"
          
          ? ctod(mask("07202006","  /  /    "))
          = {07/20/2006}
          There can be only one.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

            What would need to be different about the character string of 07202006 for it to be "formatted correctly?"
            As Stan has already observed,

            "07202006" would have to be converted to "07/20/2006". These are both character strings, but the latter is formatted correctly so that Alpha can recognize it as a representation of a date. I didn't mean to be obtuse, but the example in the help file discussion of CTOD() illustrates the use of the function by passing "12/12/05" to the function. I assumed you would understand immediately that the formatting of this string is distinctly different from the string you were trying to pass to the function. Sorry

            -- tom

            Comment


              #7
              Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

              Thanks Tony -

              Using your expression:

              date_value(val(right(yourdate,4)),val(left(yourdate,2)),val(substr(yourdate,3,2)))

              I get 01/04/0001, instead of 01/04/2007 for the character string of 01042007.
              Sergeant Richard Hartnett
              Hyattsville City Police Department
              Maryland

              Comment


                #8
                Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                Another solution is

                Code:
                c_date = "07202006"
                ?ctod(transform(c_date,"@R 99/99/9999"))
                = {07/20/2006}

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                  hmmm...

                  Perhaps check your AlphaFive system DATE settings to see if they look correct.

                  I'm using Win XP Pro SP2 and I get correct results, same as Tony.

                  --Bob

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                    Rich:
                    It's a bit subtle:
                    dim a as c="07202006" 'NOT FORMATTED
                    ?ctod(a)
                    = { / / }

                    a="07/20/2006" 'FORMATTED
                    ?ctod(a)
                    = {07/20/2006}

                    You need:
                    a="07202006"
                    ?convert_type(a,"d")
                    = {07/20/2006}
                    Last edited by G Gabriel; 02-12-2007, 12:36 PM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                      I think you tried convert_type() after you made the second assignment.

                      Code:
                      a = "07202006"
                      ? convert_type(a,"D")
                      = {  /  /    }
                      There can be only one.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                        dim a as c="07202006"
                        b=mask(a," / / ")
                        ?b
                        = "07/20/2006"

                        ?convert_type(b,"d")
                        = {07/20/2006}

                        In one line:
                        ?convert_type(mask(a," / / "),"d")
                        = {07/20/2006}

                        when you have a s tring such as : 07202006 alpha has no clue which is the day, which is the month etc. Hence the need for formating the string by some means or another.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                          And what is the perceived benefit to

                          Code:
                          convert_type(mask(a,"  /  /    "),"d")
                          over

                          Code:
                          ctod(mask(a,"  /  /    "))
                          Last edited by Stan Mathews; 02-12-2007, 02:26 PM.
                          There can be only one.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                            not a thing...just got caught up in convert_type!

                            Sorry Stan, didn't see your original reply!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: CTOD (What am I doing wrong??)

                              Well that was certainly strange -

                              I re-booted the machine, and now Tony's method works fine.

                              date_value(val(right(yourdate,4)),val(left(yourdate,2)),val(substr(yourdate,3,2)))

                              Once again, thanks everyone for all of your input and assistance.
                              Sergeant Richard Hartnett
                              Hyattsville City Police Department
                              Maryland

                              Comment

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