GL_DATE environment variable
The GL_DATE environment variable specifies custom display formats of values for DATE columns.
Important: GL_DATE is
evaluated when it is used, rather than when it is set. If it is invalid,
the operation that called it fails.
(explicit id glsdate001)
glsdate001
(explicit id glsdate002)
glsdate002
GL_DATE'string'
[
<Format qualifiers for reads>[]
<Format qualifiers for output>[]
]
- Element
- Description
- string
- Formatting directives that specify the display format for GL_DATE values. You can use any formatting directive that formats dates.
A display format in GL_DATE can contain
the following characters:
- One or more white space characters, which the CTYPE category of the locale specifies.
- An ordinary character (other than the % symbol or a white-space character).
- A formatting directive, which is composed of the % symbol followed by a conversion character that specifies the required replacement.
The following table lists the
formatting directives.
| Formatting directives | Description |
|---|---|
| %a | Is replaced by the abbreviated weekday name as defined in the locale. |
| %A | Is replaced by the full weekday name as defined in the locale. |
| %b | Is replaced by the abbreviated month name as defined in the locale. |
| %B | Is replaced by the full month name as defined in the locale. |
| %C | Is replaced by the century number (the year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer) as an integer (00 through 99). |
| %d | Is replaced by the day of the month as an integer (01 through 31). A single digit is preceded by a zero (0). |
| %D | Is the same as the %m/%d/%y format. |
| %e | Is replaced by the day of the month as a number (1 through 31). A single digit is preceded by a space. |
| %h | Is the same as the %b formatting directive. |
| %iy | Is replaced by the year as a two-digit number (00 - 99) for both reading and printing. It is the formatting directive specific to HCL Informix® for %y. |
| %iY | Is replaced by the year as a four-digit number (0000 - 9999) for both reading and printing. It is the formatting directive specific to HCL Informix® for %Y. |
| %m | Is replaced by the month as a number (01 through 12). |
| %n | Is replaced by a newline character. |
| %t | Is replaced by the TAB character. |
| %w | Is replaced by the weekday as a number (0 through 6); 0 represents the locale equivalent of Sunday. |
| %x | Is replaced by a special date representation that the locale defines. |
| %y | Requires that the year is a two-digit number (00 through 99) for both reading and printing. |
| %Y | Requires that the year is a four-digit number (0000 through 9999) for both reading and printing. |
| %% | Is replaced by % (to allow % in the format string). |
White space or other nonalphanumeric characters must
show between any two formatting directives. For example, if you use
a U.S. English locale, you might want to format an internal DATE value
for 03/05/1997 in the ASCII string format that the following example
shows:
Mar 05, 1997 (Wednesday)To do
so, set the GL_DATE environment variable as follows:
%b %d, %Y (%A)If
a GL_DATE format does not correspond to any of
the valid formatting directives, the behavior of the HCL Informix® product
when it tries to format is undefined.
Important: The setting
of the DBDATE variable takes precedence over
that of the GL_DATE environment variable and
over the default DATE formats that CLIENT_LOCALE specifies.