Thanks Jody - yes I can follow all that, no problem :) Sounds like a fair bit of work though, which I would prefer to avoid ...
PB On Thu, 5 Jul 2018 at 15:37, Jody Bevan via 4D_Tech <[email protected]> wrote: > Pat: > > In Canada every possible date format was used by different clients. > Therefore we had to write our own date handler. Essentially we handle it > this way: > > 1. We let the system administrator set the format for all dates to be > displayed. This includes all the ways 4D has built in way, but also in > other ways that silly Canadians have dreamt up. > > 2. Where ever a date is displayed we use a Alphanumeric variable. We take > the date as stored by 4D and we run it through our utility method to create > a string in the format that the system administrator has set it to display. > In this way no matter how a workstation is configured, the date is always > displayed in a consistent format in our system. > > 3. The next nasty issue is date entry. For this we permit two options: > > a) The system administrator sets up an entry filter using our > interface. Nothing fancy, the user must enter a fully formatted date, OR > b) They decide to use our date entry system which makes for very > quick entry of dates. I may be attributing this feature to the wrong person, > but I think I read about it in a Dimensions article by > Dave Baton (anyone correct me if I am wrong). > Over the years we have enhanced it a lot to make date > entries very quick. > The variable on screen where it is entered is a Alpha > variable. They can enter things like T, 5d, 6m, -1W, etc to get a fully > formatted date that > our system will accept to turn into a 4D Date. They can > also enter 2016, or 16 and tab out to get todays date but in 2016. If they > enter 2018-12, they will get > a date for December 12, of the current year. > c) We also have a button to take them to a Calendar ‘widget’ for > the mousers in the user base. > > In all the entry examples above we have a method that runs and > makes a properly formatted date that 4D will accept, place that date in the > database. > The system takes that 4D formatted date, and makes the display > date. > > This certainly adds processing time when displaying thousands of > record in a listbox (i.e. our 1 form Listbox for an output of all tables). > We have fine tuned this > code in our v16 shell so that once compiled it runs along nicely. > 4D version 17 with it’s more intelligent Listbox will speed this up as it > only deals with the rows > that are visible on screen. > > If that makes sense great - if not let me know where I lost you and I will > try to explain better. > > Jody > > > > On Jul 5, 2018, at 4:50 AM, Pat Bensky via 4D_Tech <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Jody, > > I'm using v16 and having the following problem with date formats: > > On a UK system, dates in fields and list boxes are incorrectly displayed > in > > the US format. But when you click into a date field, it changes to the UK > > format! > > > > How do you manage this? > > > > Pat > > > > On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 at 15:46, Jody Bevan via 4D_Tech < > [email protected]> > > wrote: > > > >> Bob: > >> > >> Nasty date formats. About 15 years ago we created our own tool for the > >> date entry, and display in 4D. The dates are always stored in date > fields, > >> but we let the user define the way the dates get displayed. This way it > >> does not matter what the computer’s region or date settings are. The > format > >> set in the application controls the display of the date. It also > resulted > >> in some great tools for quick entry of dates. Still loving that way of > >> doing thing in v16. > >> > >> Jody > >> > >> > >>> On Jun 9, 2018, at 5:49 PM, Robert McKeever via 4D_Tech < > >> [email protected]> wrote: > >>> > >>> 4D V15.4, Mac OS 10.13.4 > >>> > >>> A site that uses 4D Server. Mostly mini’s as clients. Has been working > >> fine for years. Then growth, so someone brought in some PC’s. Then they > >> scrounged around and now all minis. But, since we are in Canada, > sometimes > >> when the OS is loaded anew, this select Canadian English keyboard > instead > >> of US. So, date entry gets set to YYYY-MM-DD instead of MM-DD-YYYY. > >>> > >>> Dates display fine, regardless of format. But, on a couple of machines, > >> you can not enter dates. I take my record, place the cursor in the > field, > >> and type - it moves the cursor along the character string, but nothing > >> changes. So, they just go to another machine that ‘works’ and does the > >> entry there. Started a couple of weeks ago. > >>> > >>> So, why, and how to fix it? > >>> > >>> Changing the date format in the system preferences changes the way it > is > >> displayed, but still no entry. > >>> > >>> _________________________________________ > >>> Bob McKeever http://www.mswl.com < > >> http://www.mswl.com/> > >>> McKeever's Software Wizardry > >>> Port Coquitlam, B.C. > >>> [email protected] > >>> > >> > >> ********************************************************************** > >> 4D Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) > >> FAQ: http://lists.4d.com/faqnug.html > >> Archive: http://lists.4d.com/archives.html > >> Options: https://lists.4d.com/mailman/options/4d_tech > >> Unsub: mailto:[email protected] > >> ********************************************************************** > > > > > > > > -- > > ************************************************* > > CatBase - Top Dog in Data Publishing > > tel: +44 (0) 207 118 7889 > > w: http://www.catbase.com > > skype: pat.bensky > > ************************************************* > > ********************************************************************** > > 4D Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) > > FAQ: http://lists.4d.com/faqnug.html > > Archive: http://lists.4d.com/archives.html > > Options: https://lists.4d.com/mailman/options/4d_tech > > Unsub: mailto:[email protected] > > ********************************************************************** > > ********************************************************************** > 4D Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) > FAQ: http://lists.4d.com/faqnug.html > Archive: http://lists.4d.com/archives.html > Options: https://lists.4d.com/mailman/options/4d_tech > Unsub: mailto:[email protected] > ********************************************************************** -- ************************************************* CatBase - Top Dog in Data Publishing tel: +44 (0) 207 118 7889 w: http://www.catbase.com skype: pat.bensky ************************************************* ********************************************************************** 4D Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) FAQ: http://lists.4d.com/faqnug.html Archive: http://lists.4d.com/archives.html Options: https://lists.4d.com/mailman/options/4d_tech Unsub: mailto:[email protected] **********************************************************************
