3.11.3 String Representation

The time of an event can also be represented with a string. The general rules are:

• The month uses the first three letters of the month (Jan, Feb, Mar...) OR
  it can use the month number with the / notation.
• For the standard convention using the three letters of the month:
  • The date and year are separated from the month using `-'
  • The year can come before or after the month (7-Jan-92 or 92-Jan-7)
  • If the year is not passed, it will use the current year
  • The year can be two or four digit notation
• If the month number and / notation is used:
  • It is assumes YY/MM/DD or DD/MM/YY. If you wish to use MM/DD/YY, then the /MDY switch must be used on ANYTIM2INTS, ANYTIM2EX and TIMSTR2EX.
  • There can be no spaces before or after the /
  • It must include all three items (date, month, year)
  • It differentiates between YY/MM/DD and DD/MM/YY by looking for the year, which must be greater than 1932 and less than 1999.
• The hour, minutes and seconds are separated by `:'
• The milliseconds are entered as a fraction of seconds. For example, `16-Dec-91 02:29:40.819'
• There is a space between the date and the time
• The time can come before or after the date