Base: Form, Date Format Not Matching Table

RE: LO 6.1

I created a report and set dates to format mm/dd/yyyy

When I created an entry Form the date formats are mm/dd/yy

Why? Shouldn’t the Form (and Report) date format automatically match the table?

Why does Base make things so difficult?

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Hello @teckmaster,

Still can’t resist posting as wiki although it only presents hurdles for those trying to answer questions.

Base does not make things difficult. Rather you may find it this way because of its’ flexibility. Dates in a table are not stored mm/dd/yyyy or mm/dd/yy but rather as yyyy-mm-dd. What you see in a form or report or most anywhere else is the display format which is chosen by the user. This allows the date to be displayed in whatever format the user needs for that particular occasion.

Just change the property of the control you are using and modify the format to what you want displayed.

Edit 2018-09-19:

You do not change formats for a Form but rather for a control on the form.

To change properties for a date control (as other controls) open the form in edit mode, right mouse click the control and select Control.... Then under the General tab you will find the Date Format:

Select format wanted from the dropdown.

Problem, how do I change the date-display format for a Form? There is no option to do this that I can see for Forms, both Table and Reports have a way to change date format. Right-clicking a Form date field does not display a way to format the date like Table or Reports do.

You have to be in form design mode (from the menu Form → Design Mode). Then right click the element and go to “Control…”.