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 <4d_tech@lists.4d.com>
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 <4d_tech@lists.4d.com>
> 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 <
> 4d_tech@lists.4d.com>
> > 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 <
> >> 4d_tech@lists.4d.com> 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.
> >>> bobmckee...@mac.com
> >>>
> >>
> >> **********************************************************************
> >> 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:4d_tech-unsubscr...@lists.4d.com
> >> **********************************************************************
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > *************************************************
> > 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:4d_tech-unsubscr...@lists.4d.com
> > **********************************************************************
>
> **********************************************************************
> 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:4d_tech-unsubscr...@lists.4d.com
> **********************************************************************



-- 
*************************************************
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:4d_tech-unsubscr...@lists.4d.com
**********************************************************************

Reply via email to