General Topics

Date Formats


Some of the settings in the General tab of Preferences affect how dates are displayed.  The most important of these are:

To learn more about these options, see Preferences Dialog: General tab.

You can also make more specific choices about how you want dates to be formatted in particular contexts, such as reports.  The choices you make about dates in Preferences, will affect how the more specific choices about dates, are interpreted.  We will use examples to illustrate how this works.

There are 15 different qualifiers that apply to all dates, although only 6 of these are normally used in reports. The 6 that can be used in reports are:

Date formats get more and more abbreviated as you move down this list. The most abbreviated format is Abbrev(4).

The other qualifiers are

Of these, the last 3 have a special role in that they are designed to be used together, when copying date information from a query result set, into another program such as a spreadsheet or database program.

There are also 3 other qualifiers which can only be used with some dates, which give a person's age at the date in question. These qualifiers are not discussed here.

To illustrate the function of all of the listed qualifiers, 12 different sample dates, all valid date types in Family Historian, are shown below in LONG format. Then, for each date, the same data is shown displayed in each of the other formats in turn.  Where a qualifier is affected by either Preferred Standard Date Format or Preferred Short Date Format, this is illustrated by displaying the same date in two columns, showing how two common preferred date choices affect the way the date is displayed.

In the 3rd example, 'circa' or 'c.' means 'about', and indicates that the date is approximate.  There are two different ways that approximate dates can be displayed, depending on whether the option Use 'circa' for approximate dates (see Preferences Dialog: General tab) is ticked or not.  If this option is not ticked, the alternative format in brackets will be used.

The 10th example is that of a "date phrase". The 11th is an interpreted date phrase. The 12th is a blank date.

LONG Format


 Preferred Standard Date Format: dd mmm yyyy Preferred Standard Date Format: mmm dd, yyyy
1 15 December 1989 December 15, 1989
2 15 December 1989 (estimated) December 15, 1989 (estimated)
3 Circa 15 December 1989 (or: 15 December 1989 (approx.)) Circa December 15, 1989 (or: December 15, 1989 (approx.))
4 From 12 June 1908 To 14 December 1919 From June 12, 1908 To December 14, 1919
5 From 12 June 1908 From June 12, 1908
6 To 12 June 1908 To June 12, 1908
7 Between 12 June 1908 and 14 December 1919 Between June 12, 1908 and December 14, 1919
8 After 12 June 1908 After June 12, 1908
9 Before 12 June 1908 Before June 12, 1908
10 "after wife died" "after wife died"
11 12 September 1929 ("after wife died") September 12, 1929 ("after wife died")
12    

COMPACT Format


 Preferred Standard Date Format: dd mmm yyyy Preferred Standard Date Format: mmm dd, yyyy
1 15 Dec 1989 Dec 15, 1989
2 15 Dec 1989 (est) Dec 15, 1989 (est)
3 c. 15 Dec 1989 (or: 15 Dec 1989 (app.)) c. Dec 15, 1989 (or: Dec 15, 1989 (app.))
4 Frm 12 Jun 1908 To 14 Dec 1919 Frm Jun 12, 1908 To Dec 14, 1919
5 Frm 12 Jun 1908 Frm Jun 12, 1908
6 To 12 Jun 1908 To Jun 12, 1908
7 Btw 12 Jun 1908 and 14 Dec 1919 Btw Jun 12, 1908 and Dec 14, 1919
8 Aft 12 Jun 1908 Aft Jun 12, 1908
9 Bef 12 Jun 1908 Bef Jun 12, 1908
10 "after wife died" "after wife died"
11 12 Sep 1929 ("after wife died") Sep 12, 1929 ("after wife died")
12    

ABBREV Format


 Preferred Standard Date Format: dd mmm yyyy Preferred Standard Date Format: mmm dd, yyyy
1 15 Dec 1989 Dec 15, 1989
2 15 Dec 1989 (est) Dec 15, 1989 (est)
3 c. 15 Dec 1989 (or: 15 Dec 1989 (app.)) c. Dec 15, 1989 (or: Dec 15, 1989 (app.))
4 Frm 1908 To 1919 Frm 1908 To 1919
5 Frm 1908 Frm 1908
6 To 1908 To 1908
7 Btw 1908 and 1919 Btw 1908 and 1919
8 Aft 1908 Aft 1908
9 Bef 1908 Bef 1908
10    
11 12 Sep 1929 (int) Sep 12, 1929 (int)
12    

ABBREV2 Format


 Preferred Standard Date Format: dd mmm yyyy Preferred Standard Date Format: mmm dd, yyyy
1 15 Dec 1989 Dec 15, 1989
2 15 Dec 1989? Dec 15, 1989?
3 c. 15 Dec 1989 (or: 15 Dec 1989?) c. Dec 15, 1989 (or: Dec 15, 1989?)
4 1908-1919 1908-1919
5 1908-_____ 1908-_____
6 ____-1908 ____-1908
7 1908-1919 1908-1919
8 Aft 1908 Aft 1908
9 Bef 1908 Bef 1908
10 ____ ____
11 12 Sep 1929? 12 Sep 1929?
12 ____ ____

ABBREV3 Format

The interpretation of this qualifier is affected by Preferred Short Date Format.  Again, the two columns show two common values for Preferred Short Date Format.


 Preferred Short Date Format: dd/mm/yyyy Preferred Short Date Format: mm/dd/yyyy
1 15/12/1989 12/15/1989
2 15/12/1989? 12/15/1989?
3 c. 15/12/1989 (or: 15/12/1989?) c. 12/15/1989 (or: 12/15/1989?)
4 1908-1919 1908-1919
5 1908- 1908-
6 -1908 -1908
7 1908-1919 1908-1919
8 Aft 1908 Aft 1908
9 Bef 1908 Bef 1908
10    
11 12/9/1929? 9/12/1929?
12    

ABBREV4 Format

The interpretation of this qualifier is not affected by either Preferred Standard Date Format or by Preferred Short Date Format.

1 1989
2 1989?
3 c. 1989 (or: 1989?)
4 1908-1919
5 1908-
6 -1908
7 1908-1919
8 Aft 1908
9 Bef 1908
10  
11 1929?
12  


The next 5 date formats are all applicable to simple dates only, and return nothing where a date range or a date period is used.  They are also not affected by either Preferred Standard Date Format or by Preferred Short Date Format.

DAY Format

1 15
2 15
3 15
4  
5  
6  
7  
8  
9  
10  
11 12
12  

MONTH_NUMBER Format

1 12
2 12
3 12
4  
5  
6  
7  
8  
9  
10  
11 9
12  

MONTH_NAME Format

1 December
2 December
3 December
4  
5  
6  
7  
8  
9  
10  
11 September
12  

MONTH_AND_DAY Format

The interpretation of this qualifier is affected by the Preferred Short Date Format.  Again, the two columns show two common values for Preferred Short Date Format.


 Preferred Short Date Format: dd/mm/yyyy Preferred Short Date Format: mm/dd/yyyy
1 15/12 12/15
2 15/12 12/15
3 15/12 12/15
4    
5    
6    
7    
8    
9    
10    
11 12/9 9/12
12    

YEAR Format

1 1989
2 1989
3 1989
4  
5  
6  
7  
8  
9  
10  
11 1929
12  

 

The last 3 formats, XDATE1, XDATE2 and XDATETYPE are all designed to be used together. The problem they are designed to overcome is that Family Historian supports more complex date information than can be accommodated in date fields within most spreadsheet or database programs. By moving Family Historian's date information into 3 fields, it becomes easier to export the data in a way that lets them be used effectively within spreadsheets or database programs (the 'X' stands for 'eXport'). A typical use of these fields would be within a query. The data from the query can then be copied and pasted into a spreadsheet.

It is easier to see how the 3 fields work together if they are shown together in one table. In the examples below, the Day is displayed before the Month. If Preferred Standard Date Format displays months before days, the month will appear first.

  XDATE1 XDATE2 XDATETYPE
1 15 Dec 1989 15 Dec 1989 Date
2 15 Dec 1989 15 Dec 1989 Estimate
3 15 Dec 1989 15 Dec 1989 Approx
4 12 Jun 1908 14 Dec 1919 From/To
5 12 Jun 1908   From
6   12 Jun 1908 To
7 12 Jun 1908 14 Dec 1919 Between
8 12 Jun 1908   After
9   12 Jun 1908 Before
10     Phrase
11 12 Sep 1929 12 Sep 1929 Interpreted Phrase
12