Date Words

[Bob Sneidar]

Hi all. 

Did you ever want to use phrases like yesterday, last tuesday or next friday in a date field? 

function dateWords pDate
   if word 1 of pDate is not among the items of "last,next,yesterday,today,tomorrow" then \
         return empty
   
   put date() into tCurrentDate
   convert tCurrentDate to dateItems
   
   if the number of words of pDate = 2 then
      put "sunday,monday,tuesday,wednesday,thursday,friday,saturday" into tDaysOfWeek
      put itemOffset(word 2 of pDate, tDaysOfWeek) into tDayNumber
      put item 7 of tCurrentDate into tThisDayNumber
      
      if tDayNumber = 0 then \
            return empty
   end if
   
   switch
      case word 1 of pDate is "last"
         if tDayNumber >= tThisDayNumber then \
               subtract 7 from item 3 of tCurrentDate
         add (tDayNumber - tThisDayNumber) to item 3 of tCurrentDate
         break
      case word 1 of pDate is "next"
         add 7-tDayNumber to item 3 of tCurrentDate
         break
      case pDate is "yesterday"
         subtract 1 from item 3 of tCurrentDate
         break
      case pDate is "today"
         -- don't do anything
         break
      case pDate is "tomorrow"
         add 1 to item 3 of tCurrentDate
         break
   end switch
   
   put formatDate(tCurrentDate, "standard") into pDate
   return pDate
end dateWords

FUNCTION formatDate theDate, theFormat
   /*
   Accepts any valid date for the first parameter. If not a valid date, it simply returns
   what was passed. Second parameter can be any of the following:
   sql date: date in the yyyy-mm-dd format
   short date, abbreviated date, internet date, long date: LC versions of the same
   julian date: Julian number based on (I believe) Jacques formula
   standard date: The date in the form of "mm/dd/yyyy"
   */
   
   put theDate into tSavedDate
   put the itemdelimiter into theOldDelim
   set the itemdelimiter to "-"
   
   IF the length of item 1 of theDate = 4 AND \
         the number of items of theDate = 3 AND \
         item 1 of theDate is a number AND \
         item 2 of theDate is a number AND \
         item 3 of theDate is a number THEN
      put item 2 of theDate & "/" & \
            item 3 of theDate & "/" & \
            item 1 of theDate into theDate
   END IF
   
   -- replace "." with "/" in theDate
   convert theDate to dateitems
   set the itemdelimiter to theOldDelim
   
   --   if the number of items of theDate <> 7 then
   --      answer "'" & theDate & "' is not a valid date format!"
   --      return tSavedDate
   --   end if
   
   SWITCH word 1 of theFormat
      CASE "sql"
         /*
         put item 1 of theDate & "-" & \
               format("%02d",item 2 of theDate) & "-" & \
               format("%02d",item 3 of theDate) into theDate
         */
         put format("%s-%02d-%02d", item 1 of theDate, item 2 of theDate, \
               item 3 of theDate) into theDate
         break
      CASE "short"
         convert theDate from dateitems to short date
         break
      CASE "abbreviated"
         convert theDate from dateitems to abbreviated date
         break
      CASE "abbr"
         convert theDate from dateitems to abbreviated date
         break
      CASE "internet"
         convert theDate from dateitems to internet date
         break
      CASE "long"
         convert theDate from dateitems to long date
         break
      CASE "julian"
         put the date into theDate
         convert theDate to dateItems
         IF  ((item 2 of theDate = 1) OR (item 2 of theDate = 2)) THEN
            put 1 into theDay
         ELSE
            put 0 into theDay
         END IF
         put item 1 of theDate + 4800 - theDay into theYear
         put item 2 of theDate + (12 * theDay) - 3 into theMonth
         put item 3 of theDate + \
               ((153 * theMonth + 2) div 5) + \
               (365 * theYear) + \
               (theYear div 4) - \
               (theYear div 100) + \
               (theYear div 400) - \
               32045 into theDate
         break
      case "standard"
         put format("%02d/%02d/%04d", item 2 of theDate, item 3 of theDate, \
               item 1 of theDate) into theDate
         break
      default 
         --         answer info "'" & theFormat & "' is not a valid parameter." As sheet
         put tSavedDate into theDate
   END SWITCH
   
   return theDate
END formatDate

Bob S