Date/Time Field Options

Date/Time fields store dates and time values.

Style

Select one of the display options for the field. Note that date/time values are always stored in native date/time format in the database. Values for Date/Time fields set to record time only or elapsed time are stored as integers. Assuming a default value of "Now", the value stored in the database is equal to the number of seconds that have passed since 12:00:00 a.m. in the submitter's or modifier's time zone.

• Date and time

  Used for display of date-and-time values.

• Date only

  Used for display of date values.

• Time of day

  Used for display of time values.

• Elapsed time

  Stores a value representing an elapsed time in hours, minutes, and seconds. You can choose whether to include seconds in the display value, however. Users can provide an elapsed time in the format specified on the form (d hh:mm:ss, d hh:mm, hh:mm:ss, or hh:mm) or type an integer to represent the number of hours that should appear in the field. When you select this option, the Stopwatch, Calculate days, and Show seconds options become available.

  • The Stopwatch option lets users record elapsed time. The stopwatch starts recording time when a transition form opens for submitting, transitioning, or updating an item. Users can edit the elapsed time by typing a new value in the field when the time is paused on the transition form.
    Note: The timer does not record elapsed time if it is moved to the Hidden Fields section. The stopwatch records time only when a form is open, so hiding the Stopwatch field in a state does not affect elapsed time. You must hide the Stopwatch field in the specific transition if you do not want it to record time. If the Stopwatch field is read-only or is placed in a field section the user does not have privileges or preferences to view, the timer still records elapsed time while the form is open. If the user cancels the transition or resets the form, the elapsed time is not saved.

    To avoid incorrect stopwatch values, you should enable the Show seconds option when the Stopwatch option is enabled.

  • Select the Calculate days option to calculate and display elapsed time in the format d hh:mm:ss. For example, if a user enters the integer 50 in the field, it is interpreted as hours and converted to days, and the resulting value is displayed as 2 2:00:00 (if the Show seconds option is also enabled). Note that the elapsed days do not appear until at least one full day has elapsed.
  • Select the Show seconds option to display the elapsed time values in 00:00:00 format. (Disable the Show seconds option to display elapsed times in 00:00 format.) Note that seconds are retained in the database, even if they are not displayed.

Display

• Span entire row on forms

  Select this option to make this field the only field to appear on a single row.

Search & Query

• Appears in report field lists

  Select this option to include the field in lists on report forms.

  Note: If this option is cleared after the field is used in a report, the changed setting is ignored for that report; that is, the field will still appear until it is removed from the report definition.

  See General Tab of the Field Property Editor for related information.

• Appears on lookup form and relational field value lookup

  Select this option to add the field to the Auxiliary Data search form in SBM Application Administrator and the Advanced Lookup Tool and Relational Field Value Lookup forms. For a Date/Time field, this option adds Start and End boxes next to the field on the lookup form, letting users specify a start and end date as part of their search criteria.

  Note: The field order for the Advanced Lookup Tool and Relational Field Value Lookup forms for primary items is determined by the default field order of the table's first project in the project hierarchy. Projects are defined in SBM Application Administrator.
• Appears on searches for this table

  Select this option to specify that the field will be available for selection on the Advanced Search page. This setting applies to primary and auxiliary tables. See Considerations for Advanced Search for additional information.