Import Date Options

This form defines the format of date fields. Choose from the available formats. You do not need to fill this in if you are using the default format of MM/DD/YY. This setting applies to all dates imported from the incoming file.

If you import or export a file with multiple date formats, you will need to press the Date Options button on the Import Field Specification form for individual fields. This will bring up the Import Field Date Format dialog where you can set the format for a particular date field.

Please bear in mind that what you see in a spreadsheet may not be the actual layout of your dates. To see the actual layout, open your file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

When you have determined the actual layout of the dates that you are importing, select the option below that matches your file's date format.

Dates will be converted into the Collect! internal date format as they are imported. Then they will be displayed correctly in accounts, contacts, transactions etc. However, they must be read correctly from the file as the import is being run, so your choices below must accurately reflect the format of the date as it appears in the file you are importing.

Import Date Options

By default, dates are MM/DD/YY.

MDY - Month/Day/Year

Radio button: MDY - Month/ Day/Year
This is MonthDayYear

If you determine that the actual layout of the dates give n in the imported file is in the format MDY,

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04/09/2001 04/09/01 04092001

Then select the MDY - Month/Day/Year radio button.

YMD - Year/Month/Day

Radio button: YMD - Year/Month/Day
This is YearMonthDay

If you determine that the actual layout of the dates given in the imported file is in the format YMD,

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 2001/04/09 01/04/09 20010409

Then select the YMD - Year/Month/Day radio button.

DMY - Day/Month/Year

Radio button: DMY - Day/Month/Year
This is DayMonthYear

If you determine that the actual layout of the dates given in the imported file is in the format DMY,

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 09/04/2001 09/04/01 09042001

Then select the DMY - Day/Month/Year radio button.

YYYYDDD - Year/Day

Radio button: YYYYddd - Year/Day
This is YearDayofYear

If you determine that the actual layout of the dates given in the imported file is in the format YYYYddd,

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 2001/99 200199

Then select the YYYYddd - Year/Day radio button.

Please note that ddd or DayofYear indicates the actual numeric value of the day in the whole year. In the example, April 9th is actually the 99th day of the whole calendar year of 365 days.

Ddd - Day Of Year

Radio button: ddd - Day of Year
This is DayofYear

If you determine that the actual layout of the dates given in the imported file is in the format ddd,

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 99

Ddmmmyy

Radio button: DDMMMYY
This is Day-TextMonth-Year.

If you determine that the actual layout of the dates given in the imported file is in the format DDMMMYY,

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 09APR01

Then select the DDMMMYY radio button.

Please note that date separators can be used and years can be 4 digits.

WARNING: The text values for the months must be the same as the regional settings in your Windows Control Panel setup. For example, English US would be: JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC.

Then select the ddd - Day of Year radio button.

Please note that ddd or DayofYear indicates the actual numeric value of the day in the whole year. In the example, April 9th is actually the 99th day of the whole calendar year of 365 days.

Custom Date Separator

You must inform Collect! that the date format includes a date separator. The default value is /. Sometimes different systems use different formats.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04/09/2001 or 04.09.2001 or 04-09-2001

Enter the date separator in this field as / or . or - as per examples above.

Day Leading Zero

(05 VS. 5)

Check this check box if the date segment in the import file has pre-appended a 0 if the day is a single figure. Do not trust the display in a spreadsheet as this often removes leading zeroes. To determine the actual layout, it is necessary to view your file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04/09/2001

Leave this check box blank if the date segment in the import file has NO pre-appended 0 to the day with a single digit.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 4/9/2001

Month Leading Zero

(03 VS. 3)

Check this check box if the date segment in the import file has pre-appended a 0 if the month is a single figure. Do not trust the display in a spreadsheet as this often removes leading zeroes. To determine the actual layout, it is necessary to view your file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04/09/2001

Leave this check box blank if the date segment in the import file has NO pre-appended 0 to the month with a single digit.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 4/9/2001

Century

(1995 VS. 95)

Check this check box if the date segment in the import file has the century in a long format. Do not trust the display in a spreadsheet as this often reformats dates as it displays them. To determine the actual layout, it is necessary to view your file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04/09/2001

Leave this check box blank if the date segment in the import file has the century in a short 2 digit format.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04/09/01

No Separator

Check this check box if there is NO SEPARATOR at all in the date segment in the import file. Do not trust the display in a spreadsheet as this often reformats dates as it displays them. To determine the actual layout, it is necessary to view your file in a text editor, such as Notepad.

For example:
Date: April 9, 2001
Formatted as 04092001 040901

This will inform Collect! not to look for a separator in the date segment.

Help

Press this button for help on the Import Date Options dialog and links to related topics.

Cancel

Select this button to ignore any changes you may have made and then return to the previous form.

OK

Selecting this button will save any data you have entered and return you to the previous form.