Question

Converting a string into a date using a given format

Asked by: polletfa

Hi,
I would like to convert a string into a date (or datetime actually) using a given format.

My problem is actually the following:
I'm developing an application which reads the content of log files produced by other applications.
The application needs to recognize and analyse the dates contained in the log files.
I would like my application to work with as much log files as possible and that's why I need to be able to support any date formatting (the user will tell the application how the dates are formatted).

Date(string) doesn't allow to give the format used within the input string. PowerBuilder tries to identify it by itself. I fear it could fail for some formats.

When converting a date into a string, you can specify any format you want. I need to be able to specify the format (ideally using the same syntax) also when I do the conversion in the other direction.

Is it possible? How?

Thanks,
Fabien Pollet

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2008-09-13 at 06:54:02ID23728821
Tags

PowerBuilder

Topic

PowerBuilder Programming Language

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
4

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Powerbuilder - from string to datetime
    Powerbuilder - any script for retrieval argument is string and retrieve datatype in datetime? any ideas?? Sarah
  2. Convert a string to DateTime
    I have a string that looks like this: "Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:58:39 +0100". I want to convert this to a DateTime object in C#. I have tried Convert.ToDateTime("Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:58:39 +0100"), but that only says that the string is an invalid datetime format...
  3. Convert String to DateTime
    I have a string that is in the formate of "022304". What is a good way to convert it to a valid DateTime?
  4. Converting string into datetime in SQL
    I have a table which has a char(24) column which contains dates in the format 2009-09-22 13:33:26.888 I want to select these as datetime. I used SELECT CONVERT(DATETIME, colname) FROM table but get the error Msg 241, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Conversion failed when conver...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: polletfaPosted on 2008-09-13 at 06:56:46ID: 22467496

Also, one more info: I don't use any database so I cannot use the date conversion functions provided by an Oracle database for example. I need to do it with PowerBuilder alone.

 

by: diasroshanPosted on 2008-09-14 at 01:44:04ID: 22471575

Hi,

u can always keep ur data in String instead of Datetime to perserve the format,
Eg.
This example builds a DateTime value from the system date and time using the Today and Now functions. The String function applies formatting and sets the text of sle_date to that value, for example, 6-11-02 8:06 pm:

DateTime sys_datetime
string datetime1
sys_datetime = DateTime(Today(), Now())
sle_date.text = String(sys_datetime, &
   "m-d-yy h:mm am/pm;'none'")


If ur going to use a datawindow to display ur data, u can simply change the display format of the column each time as per ur format,
dw_1.Modify(start_date.editmask.mask='dd/mm/yyyy')

Cheers,
Rosh

 

by: polletfaPosted on 2008-09-14 at 03:47:46ID: 22471794

Hi Rosh,
Yes I guess keeping the original format could be the easiest way to handle this.
However, I wanted to be able to convert the date into another format.
The application shall send an email report with the data found in the log files and I want to give the user the possibility to select the display format used in the email so I need to:
- Convert the string into a date using Format 1 (format used in the log file)
- Convert the date into a string using Format 2 (preferred format of the user)

Since I use a PERL library to perform pattern matching, I guess I could implement my own conversion function using PERL, but it's kind of lot of work for a low benefit.

If PowerBuilder doesn't provide date/time conversion functions, I guess I'll follow your advice and just keep the original format.

(I keep the question open a little longer just in case someone has another idea).

Thanks,
Fabien

 

by: polletfaPosted on 2008-09-15 at 01:16:26ID: 22476563

So... I close this question now. Apparently there is no such functionality in PB. I decided to implement it by myself using PERL RegExp. Thanks Rosh for your help anyway.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...