Date Format Change

[BrianForeman7947]

Company standards for documentation require a different date format in our mechanical drawings.  I have seen the various posts how Inventor uses the O/S system date format and applies it to the file.  The issue is we don't want to change the O/S date format.  It changes date display on EVERY program on that computer, including Windows Explorer.  That means the date column on every program's open file, save file, etc. now has the new date format.

Is there another way?  Can this be changed so that a user can't mess this date format up by simply changing his settings to something else (or back to default)?

[mcgyvr]

Sure just change your company standards. Problem solved.

[BrianForeman7947]

Yeah, I thought of that.  That may be more difficult than what I am asking.  Office Politics and the Old Guard (the ones who say "It's always been this way").

[mcgyvr]

Companies that can't adapt/change will fail.

Inventor uses the system information

You could simply prompt for the date on drawing creation (date in whatever format would then be manually entered).

I do this simply because we were redoing a bunch of drawings when I first started using Inventor (old Autocad drawings) and I tried to make sure the date was the date that the Autocad drawing was.

But I still say that unless there is a darn good reason to have a different format it is much easier to simply change company standards to comply with the current technologies. It's 1 change now or years of manually entering dates in a specific format.

[msklein]

mcgyvr,

the answer I always use when I get that comment is "just because you've always done that way doesn't make it right"

[bobvdd · Accepted solution]

Brian,

You could add following iLogic rule to your part and assembly templates and make sure that you trigger the rule before save.

What it does is to automatically inject the date in the Status field of the iProperties. The example I have given below converts a date in format "10/29/2010 9:32:12 AM" to a status field in format "29-10-2010". You can change the order of the strings if you like. In order to display this new data format in the drawing title block, you will have to replace the <Creation date> property in the title block text by the <Status> property of the model. Hope this helps you workaround too stringent company standards.

Bob

10/29/2010 9:32:12 AM10/29/2010 9:32:12 AM

Dim NewDate As Date
Dim splitstr() As String
NewDate = Now
splitstr = Split (Newdate,"/")
Dim yearstr() As String
yearstr = Split(splitstr(2), " ")
mymonth = splitstr(0)
myday = splitstr(1)
myyear = yearstr(0)
iProperties.Value("Status", "Status")=  myday + "-" + mymonth + "-" + myyear

[BrianForeman7947 · Accepted solution]

Thanks Bob. I would have to do that for EVERY date on a drawing file, not just the creation date (drawn date/rev date/eng date, etc.).  Way more bother than its worth.   The original specification dates back to 2D AutoCAD and pre Y2K issues.  The spec wants a date listed (29-OCT-10) for today.  OK, is that 2010 or 1910?  Alright, it isn't the issue now, but it will be.  The spec is what needs to change.  I agree with mgyvr that the spec should reflect today's systems and not dictate a particular format just because its always been that way. 

[bobvdd]

Agree. Time to change the spec ...

Bob

[DaveRank3265]

I respectfully disagree, and am looking for a similar capability. If you're doing work for clients from around the world, system date formats change. To stay cloistered in US format is limited thinking.

The system should always know the day, month and year regardless of the formatting and order or the elements. Excel allows for this type of format. A high-end tool like Inventor should be every bit as capable.

So there is your "very good" reason.

I hope Autodesk developers are reading this. I'm looking for a reasonable solution.

[isidrosarquis]

I respectfully disagree too; I perceive that opinion is very closed-minded. There are some reasons:
a) I want my document seen in the same way in every computer that other people that opens it. I don’t want it is changing according the configuration of each computer that receive it, that would be totally out of any standard.
b) I've many different clients as the most companies have them, I neither want to force every one of my clients to change their standards and if they ask me to adjust my drawing to the standard that they use I must do it."Whatever the customer asks for".
c) All inventor fields formatting are very limited in inventor in compassion to Autocad that have no sense.
There would be some day when Autodesk improve those features.

[blair]

I have attached a link to the Inventor IdeaStation for this issue. The date format should be controlled by the Project File to allow companies to do work for different clients and have the date reflect the region and standards.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideastation/add-the-region-date-time-format-to-the-project-fi...

[dsoer12]

Any news on this issue?

Seems completely outdated to not be able to customize the date format at will. 

[SBix26]

Agreed-- we recently started allowing Vault to manage our revisions, so have run into this for the first time.  We have a date standard (04-Apr-2017), which was chosen to eliminate any ambiguity.  It's achievable with Windows settings, but our drawing standard calls for all caps, and this can't be done.  

As others have pointed out, it is ridiculous to force all users to set their computer system date formats the same, just as it would be to force them to use the same screen colors-- this is a personal usability preference.  The date format should be stored in the drawing file (and other files, too?), perhaps even individually for each field where a date is used as MS Office docs do.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2017.3.1
Vault Workgroup 2017.0.1
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
Inventor Certified Professional

[msklein]

Best way to fix is to do away with Caps requirement. I think it's time for us as a whole to take a look as to the need to do all text in Caps. And before I start hearing "because we've always done it that way" I'm going to say "Just because we've always done it that way doesn't make it right and is a poor excuse. By the way I spent over 11 yrs on the board so I know why we did cap only on the board. 

[msklein]

deleted

[ynigo_0730]

Bob, 

I would like to ask if it is possible to change date format MM/DD/YYYY to MMM.DD.YYYY? 

Please see attachment. 

kelly.young has embedded your image for clarity.

---

[blair]

You currently need to change the date on your operating system.

[ynigo_0730]

Thank you blair! 😄 

[ynigo_0730]

Hi Blair, 

I have another question:

It is possible to make the font in CAPITAL letter? 

[blair]

Good question, since the date is operating system setting dependant, you may need to find a O/S date format that is all capitals. You try to edit your drawing template and select/highlight the field and change it to capitals.