REQ: Date field and automaticl Sort field fill - solutions, ideas

[SeeAll]

Hi,

I am putting together a simple database of parish register transcriptions.
My date field (text) looks like 01 Jan 1813 to enable me to carry out sorts
on this field I have set up a sort field 1813 01 01. I only want to enter
the data into the date field and have the sort field automatically created
and filled in.

Any ideas solutions would be much appreciated.


Jeff

 

[Rick Brandt]

Hi,

I am putting together a simple database of parish register
transcriptions. My date field (text) looks like 01 Jan 1813 to
enable me to carry out sorts on this field I have set up a sort field
1813 01 01. I only want to enter the data into the date field and
have the sort field automatically created and filled in.

Any ideas solutions would be much appreciated.

Yeah, use a real DateTime field and then you can sort on it naturally. Any
place you show it to the user you can format it to look like dd mmm yyyy.

 

[SeeAll]

Hi Rick,

Very quick response.
Unfortunately "date" data format is of no use for genealogists, because it
doesn't like dates such as "23 Jan 1711/2", and some even get muddled up
with older years such as 1798 or 1898, whilst being quite happy with 2007.
Will that still work on dates pre 1900?

Any suggestions?

Regards

Jeff

 

[John W. Vinson]

Unfortunately "date" data format is of no use for genealogists, because it
doesn't like dates such as "23 Jan 1711/2", and some even get muddled up
with older years such as 1798 or 1898, whilst being quite happy with 2007.
Will that still work on dates pre 1900?

A Date/Time field works for any date between 1/1/100 and 12/31/9999 - so
unless your geneologies go back to the time of Emperor Nerva, it should handle
specific dates. Just use four digit years routinely (as I'm sure you already
must!)

The partially known dates - "22 Jan 1711/2" or "168?" - are a real problem,
though, even for your format. How do you want 1711/2 sorted? If you were
searching for births in 1712 would it be a "hit"?

I'd really suggest storing the date in three fields, BirthYear, BirthMonth,
BirthDay. Come up with a convention (month 0, day 0 say) for unknown values.
You can then use a textbox for the year, and combo boxes for the month and
day; the combo for month could display the month name but store the month
number. You can then sort by the three fields (or concatenate them for
display).

John W. Vinson [MVP]

 

[SeeAll]

Hi John,

Thanks for your help. I think that separating the date into three fields is
the best way forward.

Regards

Jeff