dbhill Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 To use a date expression in an exported PDF filename I would like to convert a date field (i.e.; 10/16/2005) into a text expression (i.e.; 051016) so that the PDF file will sort properly in a directory list. Is there a way to do this with a text calculation? Any help on this is greatly appreciated. ~Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ender Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 Something like this should work: right(year(Date);2) & right("0" & month(Date);2) & right("0" & day(Date);2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldipalo Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 (edited) Will this help? Calc field>return as text: Month(::DateField) & Day(::DateField) & Year (::DateField) I use a similar approach to save as pdf as well as send a pdf as attachment to an email. I have the date conversion field and a ::PdfFileName calc field. Then concatenate the fields Calc = "C:Documents and SettingsAlMy DocumentsFilemaker CMpdf FilesJobs" & ::DateField & ".pdf" *Of course if you are using a MAC your filename protocol is different than Windows XP.* Works fine for me. HTH Al ****************** Hey Ender: I'll always bow to your experience. To also continue the learning process is there anything wrong with the way I laid this out? Is it open to possible problems or just another way to approach the problem? AL Edited September 12, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ender Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 Hey Al, Month(::DateField) & Day(::DateField) & Year (::DateField) Unfortunately, this would not sort correctly in an alphabetical listing. For example, your calc would take dates: 1/31/2005 2/12/2005 12/1/2005 1/31/2006 and result in: 1312005 2122005 1212005 1312006 or sorted: 1212005 1312005 1312006 2122005 This is why the order is changed to YYMMDD, and why it is necessary to pad any single-digit months and days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ender Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 BTW: If you don't want any millennium bugs, the year should really be four digits. Otherwise "99" years will sort after "05" years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbhill Posted September 13, 2006 Author Share Posted September 13, 2006 Ender wins the prize; this works very nicely... I'm so happy to have this solution to my perplexity. btw, the millenium bug does not apply here, since the date range is within the last three years, so your original formula is perfect for this application. I am most appreciative. ~Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldipalo Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 I see what you are saying and it makes sense. If I am using this as a stand alone and will be performing sorts it will be best. And I really didn't think about the Millennium issue. I'll have to look at all of my date fields and calculations and make sure I haven't left a bomb in there somewhere. That's what I love about this forum, every time I come on I learn something new. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. : Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbhill Posted September 13, 2006 Author Share Posted September 13, 2006 I have to say, Ender, that the thing I like best about your calc is the pad for the single-digit days and months. This makes the directory sort work perfectly. Thanks again. ~Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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