---
title: "dateFormat"
description: "Returns the given date as a string, formatted according to a pattern."
---

# dateFormat

> Returns the given date as a string, formatted according to a pattern.

**This function is used by Ignition's Expression language.**
## Description
Returns the given date as a string, formatted according to a pattern. The pattern is a format that is full of various placeholders that will display different parts of the date. These are case-sensitive! These placeholders can be repeated for a different effect. For example, M will give you 1-12, MM will give you 01-12, MMM will give you Jan-Dec, MMMM will give you January-December.

The placeholders are:

| Symbol | Description | Presentation | Examples | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G |	Era designator | 	Text |	G=AD | |	 
| y	 |Year |	Year |	yyyy=1996; yy=96 |	Lowercase y is the most commonly used year symbol |
| Y |	Week year |	Year |	YYYY=2009; YY=09 |	Capital Y gives the year based on weeks (ie. changes to the new year up to a week early) |
| M |	Month in year |	Month |	MMMM=July; MMM=Jul; MM=07 | |	 
| w |	Week in year |	Number |	27 |	If Dec31 is mid-week, it will be in week 1 of the next year |
| W |	Week in month |	Number |	2	 |  |
| D |	Day in year |	Number |	189	 | |
| d |	Day in month |	Number |	10	 |  |
| F |	Day of week in month |	Number |	2 |	2nd Sunday of the month |
| E |	Day name in week | 	Text |	EEEE=Tuesday; E=Tue	| | 
| u |	Day number of week |	Number |	1 |	(1 = Monday, ..., 7 = Sunday) |
| a	 | Am/Pm marker |	Text |	PM	| | 
| H |	Hour in day (0-23) |	Number |	0	| |
| h |	Hour in am/pm (1-12) |	Number |	12	 | | 
| k |	Hour in day (1-24)  |	Number |	24	 |  |
| K |	Hour in am/pm (0-11) |	Number |	0	| | 
| m |	Minute in hour |	Number |	30 |	 | 
| s |	Second in minute |	Number |	55 |	| 
| S |	Millisecond |	Number |	978 |	| 
| z |	Time zone |	General time zone |	zzzz=Pacific Standard Time; z=PST	| | 
| Z |	Time zone |	RFC 822 time zone |	Z=-0800 |	 | 
| X |	Time zone |	ISO 8601 time zone |	X=-08; XX=-0800; XXX=-08:00	 | |

  

:::tip Expert Tip
This function uses the Java class [java.text.SimpleDateFormat](http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html) internally, and will accept any valid format string for that class.
:::

## Syntax
`dateFormat(date, pattern)`

- Parameter

    Date **date** - The starting date.

    string **pattern** - The pattern to format the given date to.

- Results
    - string - The given date formatted based on the given format pattern.

## Examples
```python title="Code Snippet"
dateFormat(toDate("2003-9-14 8:00:00"), "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss") //returns the string "2003-09-14 08:00:00" This format is accepted in most databases
```
```python title="Code Snippet"
dateFormat(toDate("2003-9-14 8:00:00"), "yyyy-MM-dd h a") //returns the string "2003-09-14 8 AM"
```
```python title="Code Snippet"
dateFormat(toDate("2003-9-14 8:00:00"), "MMM d, yyyy") //returns the string "Sep 14, 2003"
```
```python title="Code Snippet"
dateFormat(now(), 'yyyy-MM-dd 00:00:00') //returns the current date, but forces the time to 00:00:00
```