How to: Enter Dates and Times

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013

You can enter dates and times in all the fields that are specifically assigned to dates (date
fields).

How you enter dates depends on the settings that have been selected in the Regional and
Language Options window in the Control Panel. You can enter dates with or without
separators.

The following sections describe how you can enter dates, times, datetimes, durations, date
ranges, and how you use date formulas.

Entering Dates
In a date field you can enter two, four, six, or eight digits:

• If you enter only two digits, this is interpreted as the day, and it will add the month
and the year of the work date.

• If you enter four digits, this is interpreted as the day and the month, and it will add the
year of the work date.

• If the date you want to enter is in the range 01/01/1930 through 12/31/2029, you can
enter the year with two digits; otherwise, enter the year with four digits.

You can also enter a date as a weekday followed by a week number and, optionally, a year
(for example, Mon25 or mon25 means Monday in week 25).

Instead of entering a specific date, you can enter one of two codes.

Code Result
t This is today's date (the system date for the computer).
This is the work date. To define the work date, On the Application menu ,
w choose Set Work Date. If you do not define a work date, the system date will be used
as the work date.

You may want to use a work date if you have many transactions with a date other than
today's date.
Closing Date
When you close a fiscal year, you can use closing dates to indicate that an entry is a closing
entry. A closing date technically is between two dates, for example between Dec 31 and Jan
1.

To specify that a date is a closing date, put C just before the date: C123101.

Entering Times
When you enter times, you can insert any separator sign that you want between the units, but
it is not required.

You do not have to write minutes, seconds, or AM/PM.

The following table lists the various ways in which times can be entered and how they are
interpreted.

Entry Interpretation
5 05:00:00
5:30 05:30:00
0530 05:30:00
5:30:5 05:30:05
053005 05:30:05
5:30:5,50 05:30:05.5
053005050 05:30:05.05

You must enter two digits for each unit of time if you do not enter a separator.
Entering Datetimes
When you enter datetimes you must enter a space between the date and the time.

The following table lists the various ways in which you can enter datetimes and how they are
interpreted.

Entry Interpretation
131202 132455 13-12-02 13:24:55
1-12-02 10 01-12-02 10:00:00
1.12.02 5 01-12-02 05:00:00
1.12.02 01-12-02 00:00:00
11 12 11-current month-current year 12:00:00
1112 12 11-12-current year 12:00:00
t or today today's date 00:00:00
t time today's date actual time
t 10:30 today's date 10:30:00
t 3:3:3 today's date 03:03:03
w or workdate the working date 00:00:00
m or Monday Monday of the current week 00:00:00
tu or Tuesday Tuesday of the current week 00:00:00
we or Wednesday Wednesday of the current week 00:00:00
th or Thursday Thursday of the current week 00:00:00
f or Friday Friday of the current week 00:00:00
s or Saturday Saturday of the current week 00:00:00
su or Sunday Sunday of the current week 00:00:00
tu 10:30 Tuesday of the current week 10:30:00
tu 3:3:3 Tuesday of the current week 03:03:03
Entering Duration
You enter a duration as a number followed by its unit of measure.

Here are some examples.

Duration Unit of measure

2h 2 hrs
6h 30 m 6 hrs 30 mins
6.5h 6 hrs 30 mins
90m 1 hr 30 mins
2d 6h 30m 2 days 6 hrs 30 mins
2d 6h 30m 56s 600ms 2 days 6 hrs 30 mins 56 secs 600 msecs

You can also enter a number and it is automatically converted to a duration. The number you
enter is converted according to the default unit of measure that has been specified for the
duration field.

To see what unit of measure is being used in a duration field, enter a number and see which
unit of measure it is converted to.

The number 5 is converted to 5 hrs, if the unit of measure is hours.

Setting Date Ranges
You can set filters containing a start date and an end date to display only the data contained in
that date range or time interval. Special rules apply to the way you set date ranges.

Sample
Meaning Entries included
expression
Equal to 12 15 00 Only those posted on 12 15 00.
12 15 00..01 15 Those posted on dates between and including 12 15 00 and 01 15
01 01.
Interval
..12 15 00 Those posted on 12 15 00 or earlier.
12 15 00|12 16 Those posted on either 12 15 00 or 12 16 00. If there are entries
Either/or
00 posted on both days, they will all be displayed.

You can also combine the various format types.

Sample
Entries included
expression
12 15 00|12 01 Entries posted either on 12 15 00 or on dates between and including 12 01
00..12 10 00 00 and 12 10 00.
Entries posted on 12 14 00 or earlier, or entries posted on 12 30 00 or
..12 14 00|12 30
later - that is, all entries except those posted on dates between and
00..
including 12 15 00 and 12 29 00.
Using Date Formulas
A date formula is a short, abbreviated combination of letters and numbers that specifies how
to calculate dates. You can enter date formulas in various date calculation fields and in
recurring frequency fields in recurring journals.

Note
In all data formula fields, one day is automatically included to cover today as the day when
the period starts. Accordingly, if you enter 1W, for example, then the period is actually eight
days because today is included. To specify a period of seven days (one true week) including
the period starting date, then you must enter 6D or 1W-1D.

Here are some examples of how date formulas can be used:

• The date formula in the recurring frequency field in recurring journals determines
how often the entry on the journal line will be posted.

• The date formula in the Grace Period field for a specified reminder level determines
the period of time that must pass from the due date (or from the date of the previous
reminder) before a reminder will be created.

• The date formula in the Due Date Calculation field determines how to calculate the
due date on the reminder.

The date calculation formula can contain a maximum of 20 characters, both numbers and
letters. You can use the following letters, which are abbreviations for time specifications.

C Current
D Day(s)
W Week(s)
M Month(s)
Q Quarter(s)
Y Year(s)

You can construct a date formula in three ways.

The following example shows how current plus a time unit.

CW Current week
CM Current month

The following example shows how a number and a time unit. A number cannot be larger than
9999.

10D 10 days from today

2W 2 weeks from today
The following example shows how a time unit and a number.

D10 The next 10th day of a month

WD4 The next 4th day of a week (Thursday)

The following example shows how you can combine these three forms as needed.

CM+10D Current month + 10 days

The following example shows how you can use a minus sign to indicate a date in the past.

-1Y 1 year ago from today