Access: Format Function (with Dates)
In Access, the Format function takes an expression and returns it as a formatted string.
The syntax for the Format function is:
Format ( expression, [ format, [ firstdayofweek, [firstweekofyear] ] ] )
expression is the value to format.
format is optional. It is the format to apply to the expression. You can either define your own format or use one of the named formats that Access has predefined such as:
Format Explanation General Date Displays date based on your system settings Long Date Displays date based on your system's long date setting Medium Date Displays date based on your system's medium date setting Short Date Displays date based on your system's short date setting Long Time Displays time based on your system's long time setting Medium Time Displays time based on your system's medium time setting Short Time Displays time based on your system's short time setting
firstdayofweek is optional. It is a value that specifies the first day of the week. If this parameter is omitted, the Format function assumes that Sunday is the first day of the week. This parameter can be one of the following values:
Constant Value Explanation vbUseSystem 0 Uses the NLS API setting VbSunday 1 Sunday (default, if parameter is omitted) vbMonday 2 Monday vbTuesday 3 Tuesday vbWednesday 4 Wednesday vbThursday 5 Thursday vbFriday 6 Friday vbSaturday 7 Saturday
firstweekofyear is optional. It is a value that specifies the first week of the year. If this parameter is omitted, the Format function assumes that the week that contains January 1 is the first week of the year. This parameter can be one of the following values:
Constant Value Explanation vbUseSystem 0 Uses the NLS API setting vbFirstJan1 1 The week that contains January 1. vbFirstFourDays 2 The first week that has at least 4 days in the year. vbFirstFullWeek 3 The first full week of the year.
For example:
Format (#17/04/2004#, "Short Date") would return '17/04/2004' Format (#17/04/2004#, "Long Date") would return 'April 17, 2004' Format (#17/04/2004#, "yyyy/mm/dd") would return '2004/04/17'
VBA Code
The Format function can be used in VBA code. For example:
Dim LValue As String
LValue = Format (Date, "yyyy/mm/dd")
In this example, the variable called LValue would now contain the date formatted as yyyy/mm/dd.
SQL/Queries
You can also use the Format function in a query.
The results would look something like this:
