Using date-and-time expressions in names

Information Console supports date-and-time expressions to automatically add the document generation date and time value to the:

n

File name

n	Version of the file

n	Directory name where the file will be saved

For example, a user can use Sales Report followed by the report generation date as a document name, use the following expression:

Sales Report {mm-dd-yy}

On February 28, 2011, the name appears as:

Sales Report 02-28-11

When scheduling a report to run on a recurring basis, adding a date-and-time expression creates unique document, directory, or version names. A user can create date-and-time expressions in either of the following ways:

n	Use the date-and-time formats in Table 4-12.

n	Create custom date-and-time formats based on the symbols in Table 4-13 and Table 4-14.

Table 4-12 lists the date-and-time format keywords to use and the expression to which each keyword evaluates in a report. This table uses the locale English (USA). Actuate recommends not using General Date, Long Date, Long Time, Medium Time, and Short Time types.

Table 4-12  Date-and-time expressions 

Keyword	Description	Example	Result
General Date	Returns a date and time in the Short Date Long Time format as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{General Date}	01/23/2011 8:53:03PM
Long Date	Returns a Long Date as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{Long Date}	Tuesday, January 23, 2011
Long Time	Returns a Long Time as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{Long Time}	8:45:00 PM
Medium Date	Returns a date with the month name abbreviated to 3 letters: dd-mmm-yy	{Medium Date}.soi	23-Jan-11. soi
Medium Time	Returns hours and minutes in 12-hour format, including AM/PM designation (hh:nn AM/PM)	{Medium Time}	8:45 PM
Short Date	Returns a Short Date as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{Short Date}. soi	01-23-2011. soi
Short Time	Returns hours and minutes in 24-hour format (hh:nn)	{Short Time}	20:45

Table 4-13 lists the date format symbols to use and the expression to which each symbol evaluates in a report.

Table 4-13  Date format symbols 

Symbol	Description	Example	Result
c	Returns the Short Date Long Time format as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{c}	01/23/2011 8:53:03PM
d	Returns the day of the month without a leading zero (1-31)	Day{d}.soi	Day3.soi
dd	Returns the day of the month with a leading zero (01-31)	Day{dd}.soi	Day03.soi
ddd	Returns the three-letter abbreviation for the week day	{ddd}.soi	Tue.soi
dddd	Returns the full name of the day of the week	{dddd}	Tuesday
ddddd	Returns the Short Date string as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{ddddd}	01/23/2011
dddddd	Returns the Long Date string as defined in the Information Console locale map file	{dddddd}.soi	Tuesday, January 23, 2011.soi
m	Returns the number of the month without a leading zero	Month{m}.soi	Month1.soi
mm	Returns the number of the month with a leading zero	Month{mm}.soi	Month01.soi
mmm	Returns the three-letter abbreviation for the name of the month	{mmm}.soi	Jan.soi
mmmm	Returns the full name of the month	{mmmm}.soi	January.soi
w	Returns the day of the week as a number, where Sunday = 1, and Saturday = 7	Weekday{w}.soi	Weekday3.soi
ww	Returns the week of the year as a number (1-53)	Week{ww}.soi	Week4.soi
q	Returns the number of the quarter (1-4)	Quarter{q}.soi	Quarter1.soi
y	Returns the number of the day of the year (1-365)	Day{y}.soi	Day23.soi
yy	Returns the last two digits of the year (00-99)	Year{yy}.soi	Year11.soi
yyyy	Returns all four digits of the year (1000-9999)	Year{yyyy}.soi	Year2011.soi

Examples and results with a .soi file-name extension are document names. Examples and results without a .soi file-name extension are version names.

Table 4-14 lists the time format symbols that you use and the expression that each symbol evaluates in a report. The examples and results use a .soi file-name extension for names of document file types. The examples and results without a .soi file-name extension are version names.

Table 4-14  Time format symbols 

Symbol	Description	Example	Result
AMPM	Uses the format that is defined in the Actuate Information Console locale map file. The default format is AM/PM.	{h:n:s AMPM}	8:45:3 PM
AM/PM	Returns AM/am for any hour before noon and PM/pm for any hour after. This symbol is case-sensitive.	{hh:nn:ss am /pm} {hh:nn:ss AM /PM}	08:45:03 pm 08:45:03 PM
A/P or a/p	Returns A/a for any hour before noon and P/p for any hour after noon. This symbol is case-sensitive.	{h:n:s a/p}   {h:n:s A/P}	8:45:3 p   8:45:3 P
h	Returns the hour of the day without the leading zero (0-23)	Hour {h}. soi	Hour 9. soi
hh	Returns the hour of the day with a leading zero (00-23)	Hour {hh}. soi	Hour 09. soi
n	Returns the minute without a leading zero (0-59)	Minute {n}. soi	Minute 5. soi
nn	Returns the minute with a leading zero(00-59)	Minute {nn}. soi	Minute 05. soi
s	Returns the number of seconds without a leading zero (0-59)	Second {s}. soi	Second 1. soi
ss	Returns the number of seconds with a leading zero (00-59)	Second {ss}. soi	Second 01. soi
tttt	Uses the format that is defined in the Actuate Information Console locale map file.	{tttt}	8:45:00 PM

Times return in 24-hour format unless you use an AM/PM symbol. The symbol for minute is n. The symbol for month is m.

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