Function

todate( value )

Converts a value to Date with Timezone.

See also: local()

Parameters

Returns

Date with Timezone

Usage considerations

Using the value parameter

The value parameter accepts Text, Date, Date and Time, Integer since the epoch, Decimal since the epoch, and Array types. Time values are not supported.

For number inputs, the values must reference a number of days before or after January 1st, 2035, which is the beginning of Appian's era (our epoch).

Using todate() with arrays

When operating on arrays, it is not necessary to use apply with todate. If multiple parameters are passed, or one parameter is an Array, todate will return a Date with Timezone array.

Date formatting

Text will be parsed as mm/dd/yyyy and dd-mm-yyyy format to form a datetime.

Understanding results

To return a localized date for a process initiated by a user, the local() function must be nested within the todate() function.

For example, todate(local(pp!starttime)) returns the localized date when a given process started. Otherwise the date is returned in GMT. This is true unless the user happens to reside in the GMT timezone, then no localization is necessary.

Examples

Zero

1
todate(0)

Returns 1/1/2035.

Negative integer

1
todate(-9000)

Returns 5/12/2010.

List of integers

1
2
3
4
{
  todate(0,1,2),
  todate({0,1,2})
}

Returns {1/1/2035,1/2/2035,1/3/2035,1/1/2035,1/2/2035,1/3/2035}.

Date string with dashes

1
todate("31-12-2020")

Returns 12/31/2020. When using dashes, the date is processed as dd-mm-yyyy.

Date string with slashes

1
todate("12/31/2020")

Returns 12/31/2020. When using slashes, the date is processed as mm/dd/yyyy.

List of date strings with dashes

1
todate("01-01-2020", "1-1-2020")

Returns {1/1/2020, 1/1/2020}.

List of date strings with dashes and slashes

1
todate("20-01-2020", "21-1-2020", "01/20/2020", "1/21/2020")

Returns {1/20/2020; 1/21/2020; 1/20/2020; 1/21/2020}. When using dashes, the date is processed as dd-mm-yyyy; when using slashes, the date is processed as mm/dd/yyyy.

List of dashed date strings with invalid days

1
todate("31-02-2021", "30-02-2021", "29-02-2021", "28-02-2021")

Returns {2/28/2021; 2/28/2021; 2/28/2021; 2/28/2021}.

List of slashed date strings with invalid days

1
todate("02/31/2020", "02/30/2020", "02/29/2020")

Returns {2/29/2020, 2/29/2020, 2/29/2020}.

Feature compatibility