Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Is it possible to set a user-defined date format in write? probe1 asked a similar thing last November and I've tried the things suggested. The DateTime2 system was cumbersome and I still couldn't get it to affect the normal Insert - Fields - Date entry. The autotext solution worked instead of the normal entry but I may forget the name and to press f3. I never thought I'd say this but Word does it well! Any ideas? Many thanks for any help.

richardglobal wrote:Is it possible to set a user-defined date format in write? probe1 asked a similar thing last November and I've tried the things suggested. The DateTime2 system was cumbersome and I still couldn't get it to affect the normal Insert - Fields - Date entry. The autotext solution worked instead of the normal entry but I may forget the name and to press f3. I never thought I'd say this but Word does it well! Any ideas? Many thanks for any help.

Please include a link to the thread you're referring to, so others can more quickly see exactly what you read and tried.

Nothing has changed as far as I know.

This would be such a welcome enhancement; almost everyone needs it and, as you say, Writer does not do what most people need. Why it wasn't addressed long ago I can't begin to guess, but it's long overdue now.

Have you located and voted for the issue? If not, that is the best way to communicate a need to the developers.

Thanks, acknak, I thought it might be so. I'm new to OO - what's this locate the issue and vote for it thing? How do I do it?

The thread I was following starts at: http://user.services.openoffice.org/en/ ... ormat#p895

Thanks for your help

Richard

See here: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs.

A quick search with the keywords 'date format' (for Writer) will lead to these results.
You should subscribe and vote for that one (up to 2 votes per issue) : Issue 30216 - Ability to set the default date format.

I tag the thread as Issue.

Thanks for that. I followed the link and tried to vote but it said I wasn't logged in when, of course, I was. When I tried to log in from the issue page, it didn't accept it. I give up!

richardglobal wrote:Thanks for that. I followed the link and tried to vote but it said I wasn't logged in when, of course, I was. When I tried to log in from the issue page, it didn't accept it. I give up!

The issue tracker is a separate site, unrelated to this forum. You'll need to register there and log in separately.

I'm searching for the answer and happen onto this thread... and wonder:

Has anything happened in the 5.5 years since the original question was posted?

What should have happened? Where are the issue numbers?
Why using a text processor if you can not handle templates, styles, fields nor auto-text?

The autotext solution worked instead of the normal entry but I may forget the name and to press f3. I never thought I'd say this but Word does it well!

So be it. Please use the software that is dumbed down to your personal skill set.

Do you mean like this?

Issue 30216: Ability to set the default date format

The issue is old and has a good number of votes already; you can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment if you like, but I'd say the need is pretty clear already.

It's such a common operation, I don't know why there isn't a global shortcut for entering the current date, or date and time, in whatever format you like.

Thanks acknak - I had seen that earlier (above)... guess it's a citizen's duty to vote ... DONE!

I thought that maybe I could have recorded a macro to get the formatting tamed; the insertion of the date field recorded without issue but the formatting part was what didn't seem to want to be recorded.

I have managed to insert a date field into a template which returns today's date as 16 February 2018 (or whatever the date is when I create a letter from the template) but I'd prefer to have it ordinalised ie 16th February 2018. I see the code for 16 February 2016 is DD MMMM YYYY and that there is an option for 4th Quarter, the code for which is QQYY. So I tried to insert DDD MMMM YYYY but couldn't!
How would you suggest I might ordinalise the date please?

Welcome to the forum.

You cannot do it automatically. Create one date format with DD and another with MMM YYYY. Insert the first, add st, nd, th (as superscript if required), insert the second. Alternatively you could convert the field to text and edit it. Chapter 14 in the manual says:

Converting fields into text

Writer does not provide any easy way to convert field contents into text. To do this, you need to copy the field contents and paste them back as unformatted text. This is not a very good solution if you have hundreds of fields that you want to change, but you could use a macro to automate the process.

So, record a macro to delete the inserted date field and paste it back as plain text. Now have the same (or second) macro process the date and add the st, nd or th as required. See [Tutorial] How to record a macro (and Regular Expressions)

As a new poster you will find much useful information in the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials, the up to date Writer guide and the Writer Manual. May I suggest you bookmark the pages.

Press F1 to access the Help screen and search for your problem

The chapter headings in the manual are:

1 - Introducing Writer
2 - Setting up Writer
3 - Working with Text
4 - Formatting Pages
5 - Printing, Exporting, Faxing and E-Mailing
6 - Introduction to Styles
7 - Working with Styles
8 - Working with Graphics
9 - Working with Tables
10 - Working with Templates
11 - Using Mail Merge
12 - Tables of Contents, Indexes and Bibliographies
13 - Working with Master Documents
14 - Working with Fields
15 - Using Forms in Writer
16 - Customizing Writer – Keyboard shortcuts.

When a pop-up window opens, click the Help button for extensive help on that function - it is often more comprehensive than the manual.

Might be a bit off kilter on the OP, sorry. It's more related to setting one of the available formats in the following list: The default preference is always 0- and the issue is this can never be changed as a global default? The current fare is to Insert Field, then select it and then click Edit then Fields.
Perhaps something for Tools/Options/OpenOffice Writer where OO offers a numerical indices associated with each of the formats. All done under the hood where a different range of indices is required for each locale.
Thanks.