User Guide

153
Data Transform
ations

Dashes, periods, commas, slashes, or blanks can be used as delimiters in
day-month-
year formats.
 Months can b
e represented in digits, Roman numerals, or three-character
abbreviations, and they can be fully spelled out. Three-letter abbreviations
and fully spelled-out month names must be in English; month names in other
languages a
re not recognized.
Duration Va
riables.
Duration variables have a format representing a time duration, such
as hh:mm. They are stored internally as seconds without reference to a particular date.
 In time specifications (applies to date/time and duration variables), colons can
be used as d
elimiters between hours, minutes, and seconds. Hours and minutes
are required, but seconds are optional. A period is required to separate seconds
from fractional seconds. Hours can be of unlimited magnitude, but the maximum
value for
minutes is 59 and for seconds is 59.999....
Current D
ate and Time.
The system variable $TIME holds the current date and time. It
represents the number of seconds from October 14, 1582, to the date and time when
the transformation command that uses it is executed.
Create a Date/Time Variable from a String
To create a date/time variable from a string variable:
E Select Create a date/time variable from a string containing a date or time on the
introduction screen of the Date and Time Wizard.