Convert Character Dates to Numeric Dates

Data might appear to be numeric in the data table. However, the column properties may specify a character data type. To manipulate the data as date/time values, convert the column to a numeric column and specify how you want the values to appear.

Convert Dates.jsl (Script for Converting Character Dates to Numeric Dates) creates a data table, specifies the data input format, changes the column to a numeric continuous column, and applies the m/d/y format (Converting Character Dates (Before and After)).

Script for Converting Character Dates to Numeric Dates

Converting Character Dates (Before and After)

When you change the column’s data type from character to numeric, defining the format in which the data were entered is important. In this example, Informat( "d/m/y" ) defines the input format. Format( "m/d/y" ) defines the new display format. If Informat() is omitted, the Format() value is applied as both the input and display format. This results in missing values for some data.

Modify Convert Dates.jsl to see for yourself.

1.	Open Convert Dates.jsl from the sample scripts folder.

2.	Right-click the script window and select Show Line Numbers.

3.	On line 9, change "25/01/2010" to "01/25/2010".

4.	On line 27, delete Informat( "d/m/y" ), (including the comma).

5.	Run the script.

Format( "m/d/y" ) is applied to the column. Only "01/25/2010" appears in the column. The other values are missing; "30/09/2009" and "15/12/2013" are not valid m/d/y values.