my client would like to have a mask for date entry, either 0216 (month, day, current year) or 02sep (day, abrv month name to number)

when I just try a simple mask on a date field it fails, so the first question is it possible to mask a date entry.

second question if possible here is what I have.

/*

Let ( [

num = Filter ( Lower(dte) ; "abcdefghijklmonpqrstuvwxyz" ) ;

txt = Filter (dte ; "0123456789")] ;

Case (

IsValid ( dte ) ; dte ; // Is entry in valid date format?

Length ( txt) = 0 ; Date ( Left (dte ; 2) ; Right (dte ; 2) ; promoYr ) ;

Length ( txt) > 0 ; Date ( Substitute (Right ( dte ; 3) ; ["jan" ; 1] ; ["feb" ; 2] ; ["mar" ; 3] ; ["apr" ; 4] ; ["may" ; 5] ; ["jun" ; 6] ; ["jul" ; 7] ; ["aug" ; 8] ; ["sep" ; 9] ; ["oct" ; 10] ; ["nov" ; 11] ; ["dec" ; 12]) ; Left (dte; 2) ; promoYr);

dte ))

*/

In layout mode, select the field, and choose Date... from the Format menu. All the options are there.

thank comment, It is more of a question about creating different options for user entry. The user would like to only type four digits (month and day) or type a day and the abbreviated month. Then the mask would convert it to a propper format for entry.

Sorry - missed the point about entry.

First, if you only enter the day and the month (or vice-versa, depending on your settings), separated by a slash (or your chosen delimiter, depending on your settings again), Filemaker will accept it as a valid entry in the current year.

AFAIK, it is not possible to enable entry without a delimiter directly into a date field: date validation precedes auto-entry.

You could make the user enter the data into a text field, and make the date field depend on that. But such entry must follow much stricter rules: With a delimiter, 1/11 in a DD/MM/YYYY setting is clearly Nov 1. Without a delimiter, it has to be 0111 in order to be disambiguous.

However, if your user insists, you could make the date field auto-enter (replace) something like this:

Let ( [

mmdd = Filter ( DateEntry ; "0123456789") ;

string = "janfebmaraprmayjunjulaugsepoctnovdec" ;

mmm = Filter ( DateEntry ; string ) ;

m = Div ( Position ( string ; mmm ; 1 ; 1 ) ; 3 ) + 1

] ;

Case (

Length ( mmm ) = 3 ;

Date ( m ; mmdd ; Year ( Get (CurrentDate) ) ) ;

Length ( mmdd ) = 4 ;

Date ( Left ( mmdd ; 2 ) ; Right ( mmdd ; 2 ) ; Year ( Get (CurrentDate) ) )

)

)

thanks comment that helps.