Formatting date and time columns

To format values that result in a time or date displaying in a column , select the Advanced Format tab of the Column Properties box and choose Date/Time as the Style.

When you select "Use preferences from User's settings," the format for dates and times depends on display settings for a computer's operating system. You can select a subset of display options to format date and time values in a column. When you select "Use preferences from Custom," you have more control over how dates and time display. In addition to the settings in the table that follows, you can override the date and time formats set by the operating system with formats you specify. In this case, specifying a date with a format of day/month will always display the date in that format, even on a computer where the operating system default is a month/day format.


Option name	Selections	Description
Display Date	All Only month, day and year Only weekday, month and day Only month and year Only month and day Only year Only month Only day Only weekday	If you do not want the entire date displayed, you can select a subset of the date information. Deselect "Display date" if you only want time information displayed.
Special	None Show "today" when appropriate Always show 4 digit year Show 4 digit year for 21st century Show year only if not this year	Provides special instructions for displaying the date. Select None to use the default format. Show "today" substitutes the word "Today" for today's date.
Date format	month/day month/year month/day/year	The option is available if you have selected "Use preferences from Custom." They are not available if you have selected "Use preferences from User's settings." If you have an international date format set in your operating system, these choices change. For example, they may change from month/day to day/month.
Display Time	All Hours, minutes, and seconds Hours and minutes Hours only	If you do not want the complete time value displayed, you can select a subset of information. Deselect "Display time" if you only want date information displayed.
Time format	hour:minute hour:minute:second All	If you have an international time format set in your operating system, these choices change. For example, from 02:30 changes to 14:30. "All" is only available if you have selected "Use preferences from Custom."
Time zone	Adjust time to local zone	"Adjust time to local zone" displays the time relative to the time zone of the reader. A document created at 3:00 PM in New York that is read by a user in Los Angeles adjusts to Pacific Standard Time; the creation time is displayed as "12:00 PM."
	Always show time zone	"Always show time zone" displays the time zone where the document was created. With this option, the creator's time zone is always shown. If a document is created in New York at 3:00 PM, a user in Los Angeles sees the creation time as "3:00 PM EST." A user in New York also sees the creation time as "3:00 PM EST."
	Show only if zone not local	"Show only if zone not local" displays the time zone where the document was created only when the document is read by someone in a different time zone. A document created in New York at 3:00 PM displays to all users in the U.S. Eastern standard time zone as "3:00 PM." Users in all other time zones see the creation date as "3:00 PM EST."