Re: [libreoffice-users] Date acceptance patterns and date/time fields

Den fre 31 juli 2020 kl 20:57 skrev John Kaufmann <kaufmann@nb.net>:

> For many years my filing has used a kind of 'modified-ISO' 12-digit
> date/time pattern: YYYY-MMDD-HHmm. Advantages are that it is compact,
> easily read, sorts and is a valid filename string in all OS.
>
>         Writer has very flexible field formats, giving the option to
> format Date fields as YYYY-MMDD, Time fields as HHmm, and either Date or
> Time fields as YYYY-MMDD-HHmm -- so it has everything I want, with complete
> flexibility to format as needed.
>
>         Calc appears to be not flexible, but seems to use strict ISO
> formatting for Date (YYYY-MM-DD) and Time (HH:mm:ss) fields. /Within
> cells/, of course, there is flexibility to format Date and Time as desired.
>
>         Draw also appears to be not flexible, but uses /different/
> formatting for Date (MM/DD/YYYY) and Time (HH:mm:ss AM|PM). This seems to
> be the worst of all possible choices, because the formats are neither
> strict ISO nor as I would like.

Which language settings do you have? I'm Swedish and in draw I can choose
between the following date formats when inserting a date field:
YYYY-DD-MM (default)
DD MMMM YYYY
YY-DD-MM
DD MMM YYYY
NN "den" D MMM YY
NNNND MMMM YYYY

When inserting a time field I have the following options:
HH:mm:ss (default)
HH:mm
HH:mm:ss,00
HH:mm AM/PM
HH:mm:ss AM/PM
HH:mm:ss,00 AM/PM

It's not total freedom, but at least the ISO formats are there.

I agree though that it's strange that fields don't work the same over the
whole suite. Seems like someone unnecessarily re-invented the wheel, and
did that more than once…



Kind regards

Johnny Rosenberg


> With that context, I have these questions:
>
> (Q1) If I go to Tools - Options - Language Settings - Languages - Language
> Of - Date acceptance patterns,
> the field is populated with:
>                 Y-M-D;M-D;M/D/Y;M/D
> which are apparently associated with Language Settings - Languages -
> Language Of - Locale setting. Is that correct?
>
> (Q2) IAC, the "Date acceptance patterns" do not explain the Date or Time
> field behavior of either Calc or Draw (although the "M/D/Y" option in that
> string may relate to Draw's "(M)M/(D)D/YY" format).
> Should the "Date acceptance patterns" affect the Calc or Draw field
> formats? If not, what is the source of the Date and Time formats in those
> modules?
>
> Moreover, if I try to add to the "acceptance patterns" (to add
> "YYYY-MMDD", and possibly other formats), the field immediately turns red
> and will not accept additions. [BTW: If I try to enter the new format in
> lowercase, LO crashes immediately, but that's a separate problem for which
> I will check the bugs and file if needed.] So I can't try any additional
> formats to see the effect (if any) on Calc or Draw. This raises two
> questions with regard to "Date acceptance patterns":
>
>         (Q3) How should this field behave when one attempts to add formats
> (as the Help says one may)?
>         (Q4) Is there some comparable setting for Time formats?
>
> John
>
> --
> To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscribe@global.libreoffice.org
> Problems?
> https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/
> Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
> List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/
> Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy

-- 
To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscribe@global.libreoffice.org
Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/
Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/
Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy