$NLS_DATETIME_UNIFACE_PARSER

Have Uniface parse specified NLS datetime formats when numeric input is provided for the day of the month, month, and year. (By default, the parser supplied by the ICU libraries is used.)

Arguments

• short, medium, long and full—$NLS format, in which the locale determines the exact format that is used. Specify one or more formats for which the Uniface parser should be used.
• all—use the Uniface parser for all $NLS datetime formats.

Defaults

Assignment file:	Any application assignment file
Section:	[SETTINGS]
Default value:	None

Description

Note:  To ensure consistency between Date and Datetime, the settings $NLS_DATE_UNIFACE_PARSER and $NLS_DATETIME_UNIFACE_PARSER should be always be used together.

NLS formatting is provided by third-party ICU libraries which support the concept of a short, medium, long or full Datetime. (For examples of these formats, see http://demo.icu-project.org/icu-bin/locexp?d_=en.)

By default, the parser supplied by the ICU libraries is used to interpret these dates. The ICU parser expects that date and time data to be entered in the correct order, with the correct abbreviation for day or month, and the correct separator. When the input does not meet these requirements, the results can be unpredictable.

In contrast, the Uniface date and time parser accepts a number of different separators, including no separator, and allows months to be numerically specified. For example, if a different separator is used than that specified in the format, a backslash (/) instead of hyphen (-), the rest of the input is ignored and today's values are used for the unspecified fields.

Note:  It is also possible to specify NLS Datetimes using a Uniface display format ($NLS(dd/mmm/yy)), in which case the NLS formats are already parsed by Uniface. For more information, see $NLS Display Formats for Numeric and Float and $NLS Display Formats for Date and Time.

You can use the $NLS_DATETIME_UNIFACE_PARSER setting to override the default behavior and have Uniface parse specific NLS date formats. Uniface parsing is only used when numeric input is provided (apart from the separator), and only for the day of the month, month, and year.

Uniface parsing still interprets the input in the order specified by the ICU format. For example, for English (United States), en_US, Uniface interprets the first digits as the Month, whereas for English (United Kingdom), en_GB, Uniface interprets the first digits as the Day of the Month.

Where the format includes the day of the week or the day name, for example, these will be automatically provided in the display.

[SETTINGS]
$NLS_DATETIME_UNIFACE_PARSER = long, full