# Directives

DAY_FORMAT | Specify DAY Format

## Formats

1. | Set Date Format Mask: | DAY_FORMAT [new_fmt$]
2. | Read Date Format Mask: | DAY_FORMAT READ current_fmt$

Where:

new_fmt$ | String expression containing the format for the variable DAY. Optional. Defaults to "MM/DD/YY".
current_fmt$ | String expression (max 8kb) containing current DAY_FORMAT setting.

## Description

Use the DAY_FORMAT directive to change the format mask for the DAY variable. The format string contains the new format for the DAY variable.

Characters in the format string control the following:

| DD | Insert current day
| MM | Insert current month
| YY | Insert current year (last two digits only)
| YYYY | Insert four digit year
| AA | Insert current year using 00 - 99 for 1900 through 1999, A0 - A9 for 2000 through 2009, B0 - B9 for 2010 through 2019, etc.

All other characters in the mask are returned as literals in the DAY variable. The DAY_FORMAT stays in effect until a START directive is executed.

The DAY_FORMAT directive mask can contain the letters AA (e.g. "MM/DD/AA"). The format AA indicates a packed two-character year field. PxPlus returns $A0$ for the year 2000, $A1$ for 2001, $B0$ for 2010, etc. up to $Z9$ for the year 2269. This format assists with conversion issues in legacy applications.

## See Also

DAY Return Current System Date
DTE( ) Convert Date
JUL( ) Return Julian Date

## Example

Example 1:

> print day
> day_format "YYYY MM/DD"
> print day
> ->run
> 11/15/00
> 2000 11/15

Example 2:

> X$="01/01/A0"
> day_format "MM/DD/AA"
> print jul(X$)
> print dte(10957:"%Y %Ml %D")
> ->run
> 10957
> 2000 January 1