Lesson 16 : Formatting Date and Time

16.1 Formatting Date and time using Predefined Format Function

Date and time can be formatted using predefined Format function and also user-defined Format function.  The predefined formats of date and time are shown in Table 16.1.

Table 16.1 Predefined formats of date and time

Instead of "General date", you can also use the abbreviated  format "G" , i.e.  Format (Now, "G"). And for "Long Time", you can use the abbreviated  format "T". As for "Short Time", you may use the abbreviated  format "t"

Example 16.1

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
 Label1.Text = Format(Now,"General Date")
 Label2.Text = Format(Now, "Long Date")
 Label3.Text = Format(Now, "short Date")
 Label4.Text = Format(Now, "Long Time")
 Label5.Text = Format(Now, "Short Time")
End Sub

The output is shown in Figure 16.1.

Figure 16.1

16.2 Formatting Date and time using User-defined Formats

Beside using the predefined  formats, you can also use the user-defined formatting functions. The general format of a user-defined Format function for date/time is

            Format (expression,style)
			

Table 16.2 Some of the user-defined format functions for date and time

Format	Explanation
Format (Now,"M")	Displays current month and date
Format (Now,"MM")	Displays current month in double digits.
Format (Now, "MMM")	Displays abbreviated name of the current month
Format (Now, "MMMM")	Displays full name of the current month.
Format (Now,"dd/MM/yyyy")	Displays current date in the day/month/year format.
Format (Now,"MMM,d,yyyy")	Displays current date in the Month, Day, Year Format
Format (Now, "h:mm:ss tt")	Dispalys current time in hour:minute:second format and show am/pm
Format (Now, "MM/dd/yyyy  h:mm:ss")	Dispalys current date and time in hour:minute:second format

Example 16.2

Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click, Button2.Click, Button3.Click
 Label1.Text = Format(Now, "M")
 Label2.Text = Format(Now, "MM")
 Label3.Text = Format(Now, "MMM")
 Label4.Text = Format(Now, "MMMM")
 Label5.Text = Format(Now, "dd/MM/yyyy")
 Label6.Text = Format(Now,"MMM,d,yyyy")
 Label7.Text = Format(Now, "h:mm:ss tt")
 Label8.Text = Format(Now, "MM/dd/yyyy h:mm:ss tt")>
 End Sub
 

The output is shown in the Figure 16.2.

Figure 16.2