Re: [libreoffice-users] Base date entry less flexible

On 12/29/2012 07:46 PM, Dan Lewis wrote:
> On 12/29/2012 03:28 PM, Girvin R. Herr wrote:
> > Greetings,
> > I noted that after I updated LO from 3.5.7 to 3.6.4, the Base date 
> > entry format flexibility has changed.  With a 3.5.7 (and before) Base 
> > form, I could enter 12-29-12 and it would be changed to 12/29/12.  
> > With 3.6.4, entering 12-29-12 will result in a strange date, as if it 
> > were interpreting the dashes as a formula and maybe subtracting the 
> > numbers.  Okay, I could live with that because it was apparent that 
> > the date was incorrect. But now I see this is resulting in a Java 
> > error when I accidentally use dashes and try to save the record.  I 
> > get "Java.lang.IllegalArgumentException" errors.  Even that could be 
> > worked around, if the error message had any diagnostics, such as the 
> > offending date.  However, this is all I get.  No SQL.  No indication 
> > as to what the problem really is.  I got a clue by doing a web search 
> > and found a similar error with dates and put two-and-two together to 
> > determine the real cause.  I guess my complaint is that between 3.5 
> > and 3.6, the error messages stopped putting diagnostic data into the 
> > message. Has anyone else seen this "feature"?
> > Is there an option somewhere to add the diagnostics to error messages?
> >
> > Note that I tried entering 12-29-12 into a Calc date cell where the 
> > format was "MM/DD/YY" and it kept the dashes.
> > Girvin Herr
>      If you are going to use a date format with hyphens, perhaps 
> learning to use this format: YYYY-MM-DD. This is recognized by both 
> Base and Calc. (Probably by most databases and spreadsheets.
>
> --Dan
      Some additional testing in a database form: You can have a date 
field in a form that accepts either dd-mm-yy or mm-dd-yy. You will have 
to reformat the field to use the hyphens instead of the forward slash.
     WARNING: If you do what I suggest below to change the date format 
in the form, you should from that point on enter dates using hyphens 
rather than forward slashes. However, this will not change the format in 
the table that underlies the form. For example, I have a date field that 
uses MM/DD/YY in its table and in the form the format is MM-DD-YY.  In 
the table I see 01/03/10 while in the form I see 01-03-10. The date in 
long form is Sunday January 3, 2010.

      Here is what I did:
1. I right click the form and selected Edit.
2. I highlighted the date field that I wanted to change. (Depending upon 
the version of LO, you can do this with either clicking the field or 
Control+click the field. You do not want to have the label highlighted 
with the field.)
3. Right click the date field and select Replace with -> Formatted Field.
4. Right click the date field and select Control.
5. Click the Data tab.
6. In the "Data field", select the date field for the dropdown list of 
fields.
7. Click the General tab.
8. In the Formatting property, click the ellipse (...) to open the 
Number Format dialog.
9. Enter DD-MM-YY OR MM-DD-YY in the Format Code box.
10. Click the Green arrow to the right of the Format Code box.
11. Click OK.
12. Save the Form.
13. Save the database.

     Now, it does not matter whether you enter a date in forms that 
Base usually recognizes or  DD-MM-YY or MM-DD-YY. What you see in the 
field on the form is the format you created for the date field in the 
form. Again, the date field in the table maintains the format that you 
gave it when you created the table.
     LibreOffice has reduced the number of formats that Base will 
recognize on its own. This is true for dates in Calc as well. However, 
as long as you define the format for what you will be entering, you can 
still use formats you have used in the past.

--Dan

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