[Date] casts a date string as a Lasso date data type, constructs a date from parameters, or returns the current date/time when used without parameters.

Each part of a date can be specified using -Year, -Month, -Day, -Hour, -Minute, and -Second. However, these parameters should not be used in conjunction with a string parameter and -Format parameter.

To cast a date string as a Lasso date data type, the date string should either be in a Lasso date string format or should be in the format specified by the -Format keyword/value parameter. The following Lasso date string formats are recognized without the use of the -Format parameter.

mm/dd/yyyy
mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm
mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss
mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss GMT
yyyy-mm-dd
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss
yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss GMT
yyyymmddhhmmss
yyyymmddThh:mm:ss
day, mon dd yyyy hh:mm:ss zone
day, mon dd hh:mm:ss zon yyyy

When used, the -Format parameter uses the following keyword/value parameters to indicate the format of the date string.

%D U.S. date format (mm/dd/yy).
%Q MySQL date format (yyyy-mm-dd).
%q MySQL timestamp format (yyyymmddhhmmss).
%r 12-hour time format (hh:mm:ss [AM/PM]).
%T 24-hour time format (hh:mm:ss).
%Y 4-digit year.
%y 2-digit year.
%m Month number (1=January, 12=December).
%B Full English month name (e.g. "January").
%b Abbreviated English month name (e.g. "Jan").
%d Day of month (01-31).
%w Day of week (1=Sunday, 7=Saturday).
%A Full English weekday name (e.g. "Wednesday").
%a Abbreviated English weekday name (e.g. "Wed").
%H 24-hour time hour (0-23).
%h 12-hour time hour (01-12).
%M Minute (0-59).
%S Second (0-59).
%p AM/PM for 12-hour time.
%z Time zone offset in relation to GMT (e.g. -0800).
%% A percent sign.

By default, all input is assumed to be zero padded to two characters. For example, 02/03/2002.

A hyphen - between the % and the letter code instructs Lasso not to look for padding. For example, 2/3/2002

An underscore _ between the % and the letter instructs Lasso to to look for padding with spaces. For example, 2/ 3/2002.