Commands

convert

Supported By

Syntax

convert container [from format [and format]] to format [and format]

Format is one of the following: date, short date, abbreviated date, long date, English date, short time, abbreviated time, long time, English time, seconds, or dateItems.

Examples

convert line 1 of steve from date to dateItems
convert bill from date and time to dateItems
convert andy to seconds
convert first line of steve to long date and short time

Description

The convert command gets a date or time and converts it from a particular format, if specified, to a particular format. This command works with either the local date format or the U.S. date format.

If the first parameter to the convert command is a container, the converted date or time is placed in that container. If the first parameter is not a container, the converted date or time is placed in the local variable it.

A script that needs to work with dates and times should convert them to the seconds or dateItems format before working on them. This avoids problems that may occur when running the script in a different locale. The seconds and dateItems formats are the only ones guaranteed to be recognized in any locale.

Script

The following example prints tomorrow's date in the short format regardless of the current locale:

on printTomorrow
  get the date
  convert it to dateItems
  add 1 to item 3 of it
  convert it to short date
  put it
end printTomorrow

See Also

date, date, time, seconds