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Archiver > TMG > 2002-09 > 1031024422


From: Terry Reigel <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Old Style date entry
Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2002 23:40:58 -0400
References: <5.1.1.6.0.20020901235557.01a63f68@mail.attbi.com> <5.1.1.6.0.20020902205753.02518b40@mail.attbi.com>


"Laura M. Cooper" wrote:

> Frankly, I would prefer that TMG not mess with my dates so that I could
> enter them as they appear in the original documents, or how I want them to
> appear. Other than OS dates, I find it particularly frustrating that dates
> written, for example, 4. 10. 1677., are automatically converted.

Most of the time, most people want the dates converted. If they weren't TMG couldn't
calculate ages, which many people find helpful.

But occasionally, I agree it is better to keep the dates as oringinally entered. To do that,
all you need to do is include some text in the date field that is not recognized by TMG as
part of a date. One way is to enclose it in quotes, which has the advantage of indicating in
the output that it is a direct quote. Our you might include a phase such as "recorded as" or
something like that. If the date as recorded includes a space, you can use the "printer
code" for non-breaking space ( [:NB:] ) instead of a regular space, and the change will be
invisible in the output.

One way to do this with any date that's invisible in reports is to enclose the date in the
Font code for Dates -- with your example it would be [FONTD:]4. 10. 1677[:FONTD]. This code
causes the date to be output in the font style you specify for dates, which of course it
would be anyway. But the code causes the date to be recorded as irregular. (Part of the code
may be visible on screen, depending on the width you set for the date column.)

Font codes are not on the right click menu for dates (I suppose because it makes them
irregular), but you can type them in. Or, if remembering them is a problem, type the date
into the Memo field, apply the codes with the right-click menu, and then use cut (Ctrl-X)
and paste (Ctrl-V) to move them to the date field.

Terry Reigel

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