DATE FORMAT Clause

The COBOL DATE FORMAT clause specifies that a data item is a date field.

COBOL date patterns are mapped to ActiveMatrix BusinessWorks Java date patterns. The day-first or month-first option is determined by the state of the Day/Month Order field in the Settings page of the Copybook resource.

COBOL Data Pattern Java Date Pattern


            Day First                           Month First

XX dd MM
XXYY MMyy MMyy
XXYYYY MMyyyy MMyyyy
XXX DDD DDD
XXXYY DDDyy DDDyy
XXXYYYY DDDyyyy DDDyyyy
XXXX ddMM MMdd
XXXXYY ddMMyy MMddyy
XXXXYYYY ddMMyyyy MMddyyyy
YY yy yy
YYXX yyMM yyMM
YYXXX yyDDD yyDDD
YYXXXX yyddMM yyMMdd
YYYY yyyy yyyy
YYYYXX yyyyMM yyyyMM
YYYYXXX yyyyDDD yyyyDDD
YYYYXXXX yyyyddMM yyyyMMdd
Note: The Plug-in does not support date-format patterns that are not specified here. For example, X, YYY, and YYYYX are not supported.