Date and Time Specification for
Properties 
For predefined properties of the type Date, Time, and Timestamp, you can define your own formats for the date and time.
You can use predefined formats or define your own formats.
Predefined Formats
Three formats are already predefined: short, medium, long.
Enter the format in the configuration of the property in the Additional Metadata parameter. Use the syntax format=<specification>.
The date and time are both displayed in the country-specific setting.
Display of the Various Predefined Formats
Type |
format=short |
format=medium |
format=long |
date |
17.01.05 |
17.01.2005 |
17 January 2005 |
timestamp |
17.01.05 16:08:23 |
17.01.2005 16:08:23 |
17 January 2005 16:08:23 |
time |
16:08 |
16:08:23 |
16:08:23 CEST |
Freely Definable Formats
You can use patterns based on letter combinations to define your own data and time specifications. The patterns are based on the Java class java.text.SimpleDateFormat.
Patterns for Date and Time Specification
Letter |
Date or Time Element |
Example |
y |
Year |
yy= 05; yyyy=2005 |
M |
Month in year |
MM=12; MMM=December (display is country-specific) |
w |
Week in year |
ww=05 |
D |
Day of year |
DDD=345 |
d |
Day of month |
dd=05 |
E |
weekday |
EEE=WED; EEEE=Wednesday (display is country-specific) |
a |
AM-PM specification |
a=PM; aaa=AM |
H |
Hour of day (0-23) |
HH=23 |
k |
Hour of day (1-24) |
kk=24 |
C |
Hour in AM-PM (0-11) |
KK=11 |
h |
Hour in AM-PM (1-12) |
hh=12 |
m |
Minute of hour |
mm=35 |
s |
Second in minute |
ss=55 |
S |
Millisecond |
SSS=538 |
For more information about the patterns to use for date and time specification, see the Internet at java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html.
Enter the format that you have defined in the configuration of the property in the Additional Metadata parameter. Use the syntax customFormat=<pattern>.
The date and time are displayed as prescribed, but still in the country-specific setting.
customFormat=dd.MM.yyyy hh:mm:ss ® 17.01.2005 04:09:23
customFormat=MM/dd/yyyy ® 01/17/2005
customFormat=hh:mm a ® 12:02 PM
if there are errors in the specification that you define, the system uses the default format.