Using Variable Dating

Variable dating is integrated into many of the system's date fields. Variable dating uses variables in a date field so that the dates can change as needed, such as the last day of the moth, or the "current date." Use it to substitute variables for normal month, day, and year numbers. With variable dating, the current date is represented as MO/DA/YR.

By using variables in a date field, you can schedule static data applications, such as reports, to run on a regular basis. For example, when scheduling a report to run monthly using a date range from the first of the month to the end of the month, you would enter MO/01/YR for the starting date and MO/31/YR for the ending date.

Note: If the amount of months, days, or years you want to add or subtract is more than 9, then the application uses letters starting with “A” where “A” = 10, “B” = 11, “C” = 12, etc.

To use variable dating, select from the following options:

Month Segment	Day Segment	Year Segment
MO for the current month. FBfor the Fiscal (Year) Beginning month.This month is defined inControl File Maintenance. FEfor the Fiscal (Year) Ending month. The system uses this is 12 months after the fiscal year beginning month.	DA for the current day. FBfor the Fiscal (Month) Beginning day. This is the first calendar day following the previous month’s End of Month day. FEfor the Fiscal (Month) Ending day. Each month's	YRfor the current year.
Use these values...
-1 to -9 for one to nine months/days/years in the past. -A to -Z for 10 to 36 months/days/years in the past. +1 to +9 for one to nine months/days/years in the future. +A to +Z for 10 to 36 months/days/years in the future.

You can use Variable Dating to substitute a fixed value for any portion of the MO/DA/YR variable, as shown in the examples below.

To run a report...	Enter...
starting on the first day of the previous month of the current year through the last day of the current month of the current year	-1/01/YR for the Start Date. MO/31/YR for the End Date.
for a ten-day period centered on today	MO/-5/YR for the Start Date, which is the current date minus five days. MO/+5/YR for the End Date, which is the current date plus five days.
for a fiscal year	FB/FB/95 for the Start Date, if your company's fiscal year beginning month is July and June's EOM day is the 30th. FE/FE/96 for the End Date.

Note: To generate a report regularly, use the Phantom Scheduler.

Example 1: To-Date Reports

The following can be used to run month-to-date reports:

If you want to run a report for last month (month-to-date), the start date would be -1/FB/YR and the end date is -1/DA/YR.
If you want to run a report to show last year-to-date, the start date would be FB/FB/-1 and the end date is MO/DA/-1.
If you want to run a report to show weekly activity, the start date is MO/-6/YR and the end date is MO/DA/YR.

Note: If the amount of months, days, or years you want to add or subtract is more than 9, then the application uses letters starting with “A” where “A” = 10, “B” = 11, “C” = 12, etc.

Example 2: Hard-Coded Dates

You can also use hard-coded dates in date fields. The application uses the hard-coded date instead of the "as of" date. For example, you enter MO/25/YR for the date and Eclipse uses the 25th of the month, regardless of the As-of date.

Example 3: Mixing Values

You can also mix and match different values to cover a wider range of dates, as needed. For example, if the As of date is 04/28/14 and your date states 02/-6/YR, then the date used is 02/22/14.

For more information about variable dating or to work through more examples, see the Eclipse Learning Management System on the Customer Support Website: General Ledger Report Generator Variable Dating. The variable dating concepts can be used through the Eclipse system.