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Understanding DATE Field Formatting
Summary: The DATE field is used to insert the current date into your document. You can use special formatting codes with the field to specify how you want the date to appear. This tip explains how you can get just the type of date you want. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, and Word 2003.)
When you insert a DATE field in Word, you can specify a format for how the date is displayed by using the \@ switch with the field. For instance, if you wanted to display the date as 21 June 1998, you would use the following syntax for the DATE field:
{ DATE \@ "d MMMM yyyy" }You can easily change the format for the date by changing what is within the quote marks. The options are as follows:
| Format Code | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| M | Displays one or two digits for the month, as necessary. | |
| MM | Always displays two digits for the month. | |
| MMM | The three-letter abbreviation for the month. | |
| MMMM | The full name of the month. | |
| d | Displays one or two digits for the day of the month, as necessary. | |
| dd | Always displays two digits for the day of the month. | |
| ddd | The three-letter abbreviation for the day of the week. | |
| dddd | The full name of the day of the week. | |
| yy | Always displays two digits for the year. | |
| yyyy | Always displays four digits for the year. |
Note that the letter M must be uppercase in all formats, but that the letters d and y can be upper or lower. Any other characters you use in the format string are displayed as entered.
Tip #1128 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 2000 2002 2003
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