Reference: Number and Date Formats

Article
03/27/2017

For the latest documentation on Visual Studio 2017, see Visual Studio 2017 Documentation.

You can modify the display format for numbers and dates in Visual Studio LightSwitch by setting the Format Pattern property. The following sections show the notation and rules for that property in addition to examples of format strings that are commonly used.

Note

The examples assume that the application’s Culture property is set to English (United States). If you change the Culture property in Visual Studio LightSwitch, culture-specific formatting will be applied only if the culture setting of the local machine matches.

Numeric Formats
Standard Numeric Format Strings
Custom Numeric Format Strings
Date and Time Formats
Standard Date and Time Format Strings
Custom Date and Time Format Strings
Formatting Guids

Numeric Formats

You can use numeric format strings to format the Decimal, Double, Integer, Long Integer, and Short Integer data types. A standard numeric format string takes the form Axx, where A is an alphabetic character that's called the format specifier, and xx is an optional integer that's called the precision specifier. The precision specifier ranges from 0 to 99 and affects the number of digits in the result.

Note

For the Decimal data type, the precision specifier can't be larger than the Scale property value that's specified for the field. For the Integer, Long Integer, and Short Integer types, no precision specifier should be used.

You can also create a custom numeric format string, which consists of one or more custom numeric specifiers, to define how to format numeric data. Any numeric format string that contains more than one alphabetic character, including white space, is interpreted as a custom numeric format string.

Standard Numeric Format Strings

The following table lists the standard numeric format specifiers and displays sample output that each format string produces. For more information, see Standard Numeric Format Strings.

Format specifier	Name	Raw Value, Data Type	Format String	Displayed Result
"C" or "c"	Currency	123.456, `Double` 123.456, `Double` 123.456, `Double` 123, `Integer`	C C2 C3 C	$123.46 $123.46 $123.456 $123.00
"D" or "d"	Decimal	1234, `Integer` 1234, `Short Integer` -1234, `Long Integer`	D D6 D6	1234 001234 -001234
"E" or "e"	Exponential (scientific)	1052.0329112756, `Double` -1052.0329112756, `Double`	E E2	1.052033E+003 -1.05e+003
"F" or "f"	Fixed-point	1234.567, `Double` 1234, `Decimal` -1234.56, `Double`	F F1 F4	1234.57 1234.0 -1234.5600
"G" or "g"	General	-123.456, `Double` 123.4546, `Double` -1.234567890e-25, `Double`	G G4 G	-123.456 123.5 --1.23456789E-25
"N" or "n"	Number	1234.567, `Double` 1234, `Integer` -1234.56, `Double`	N N N	1,234.57 1,234.0 -1,234.560
"P" or "p"	Percent	1, `Double` -0.39678, `Double`	P P1	100.00 % -39.7 %
"R" or "r"	Round-trip	123456789.12345678, `Double` -1234567890.12345678, `Double`	R R	123456789.12345678 -1234567890.1234567
"X" or "x"	Hexadecimal	255, `Integer` -1, `Integer` 255, `Integer` -1, `Integer`	X X X4 X4	FF ff 00ff -00FF

Custom Numeric Format Strings

The following table describes the custom numeric format specifiers and displays sample output that each format string produces. For more information, see Custom Numeric Format Strings.

Format specifier	Name	Raw Value, Data Type	Format String	Displayed Result
"0"	Zero placeholder	1234.5678, `Double` 0.45678, `Double`	00000 0.00	01235 0.46
"#"	Digit placeholder	1234.5678, `Double` 0.45678, `Double`	##### #.##	1235 .46
"."	Decimal point	0.45678, `Double`	0.00	0.46
","	Group separator and number scaling	2147483647, `Integer` 2147483647, `Integer`	##,# #,#,,	2,147,483,647 2,147
"%"	Percentage placeholder	0.3697, `Double` 0.3697, `Double`	%#0.00 ##.0 %	%36.97 37.0 %
"‰"	Per mille placeholder	0.03697, `Double`	#0.00‰	36.97‰
"E0" "E+0" "E-0" "e0" "e+0" "e-0"	Exponential notation	987654, `Double` 1503.92311, `Double` 1.8901385E-16 ("0.0e+00"), `Double`	#0.0e0 0.0##e+00 0.0e+00	98.8e4 1.504e+03 1.9e-16
\	Escape character	987654, `Integer`	\###00\#	#987654#
'string' "string"	Literal string delimiter	68, `Integer` 68, `Integer`	# ' degrees' #” degrees”	68 degrees 68 degrees
;	Section separator	12.345, `Double` 0, `Double` -12.345, `Double` 12.345, `Double` 0, `Double` -12.345, `Double`	#0.0#;(#0.0#);-\0- #0.0#;(#0.0#);-\0- #0.0#;(#0.0#);-\0- #0.0#;(#0.0#) #0.0#;(#0.0#) #0.0#;(#0.0#)	12.35 -0- (12.35) 12.35 0.0 (12.35)
Other	All other characters	68, `Integer`	# °	68 °

Date and Time Formats

You can use date and time format strings format the Date and Date Time data types. A standard date and time format string uses a single format specifier to define the text representation of a date and time value. Any date and time format string that contains more than one character, including white space, is interpreted as a custom date and time format string.

Standard Date and Time Format Strings

The following table describes the standard date and time format specifiers. For more information, see Standard Date and Time Format Strings.

Format specifier	Description	Raw Value (`Date Time`)	Format String	Displayed Result
"d"	Short date pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	d	6/15/2009
"D"	Long date pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	D	Monday, June 15, 2009
"f"	Full date/time pattern (short time).	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	f	Monday, June 15, 2009 1:45 PM
"F"	Full date/time pattern (long time).	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	F	Monday, June 15, 2009 1:45:30 PM
"g"	General date/time pattern (short time).	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	g	6/15/2009 1:45 PM
"G"	General date/time pattern (long time).	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	G	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM
"M", "m"	Month/day pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	M	June 15
"O", "o"	Round-trip date/time pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	O	2009-06-15T13:45:30.0900000
"R", "r"	RFC1123 pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	R	Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:45:30 GMT
"s"	Sortable date/time pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	s	62009-06-15T13:45:30
"t"	Short time pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	t	1:45 PM
"T"	Long time pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	T	1:45:30 PM
"u"	Universal sortable date/time pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	u	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -> 2009-06-15 20:45:30Z
U"	Universal full date/time pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	U	Monday, June 15, 2009 8:45:30 PM
"Y", "y"	Year/month pattern.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	Y	June, 2009

Custom Date and Time Format Strings

The following table describes the custom date and time format specifiers. For more information, see Custom Date and Time Format Strings.

Format specifier	Description	Raw Value (`Date Time`)	Format String	Displayed Result
"d"	The day of the month, from 1 through 31.	6/1/2009 1:45:30 PM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	d d	1 15
"dd"	The day of the month, from 01 through 31.	6/1/2009 1:45:30 PM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	dd dd	01 15
"ddd"	The abbreviated name of the day of the week.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	ddd	Mon
"dddd"	The full name of the day of the week.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	dddd	Monday
"f"	The tenths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 6/15/2009 13:45:30.050	f f	6 0
"ff"	The hundredths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 6/15/2009 13:45:30.005	ff ff	61 00
"fff"	The milliseconds in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 6/15/2009 13:45:30.0005	fff fff	617 000
"ffff"	The ten thousandths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.6175 6/15/2009 13:45:30.00005	ffff ffff	6175 0000
"fffff"	The hundred thousandths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.61754 6/15/2009 13:45:30.000005	fffff fffff	61754 00000
"ffffff"	The millionths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617542 6/15/2009 13:45:30.0000005	ffffff ffffff	617542 000000
"fffffff"	The ten millionths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.6175425 6/15/2009 13:45:30.0001150	fffffff fffffff	6175425 0001150
"F"	If non-zero, the tenths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 6/15/2009 13:45:30.050	F F	6 (no output)
"FF"	If non-zero, the hundredths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 6/15/2009 13:45:30.005	FF FF	61 (no output)
FFF"	If non-zero, the milliseconds in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617 6/15/2009 13:45:30.0005	FFF FFF	617 (no output)
"FFFF"	If non-zero, the ten thousandths of a second in a date and time value.	6/1/2009 13:45:30.5275 6/15/2009 13:45:30.00005	FFFF FFFF	5275 (no output)
"FFFFF"	If non-zero, the hundred thousandths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.61754 6/15/2009 13:45:30.000005	FFFFF FFFFF	61754 (no output)
"FFFFFF"	If non-zero, the millionths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.617542 6/15/2009 13:45:30.0000005	FFFFFF FFFFFF	617542 (no output)
"FFFFFFF"	If non-zero, the ten millionths of a second in a date and time value.	6/15/2009 13:45:30.6175425 6/15/2009 13:45:30.0001150	FFFFFFF FFFFFFF	6175425 000115
"g", "gg"	The period or era.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	g	A.D.
"h"	The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 1 to 12.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	h h	1 1
"hh"	The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 01 to 12.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	hh hh	01 01
"H"	The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 0 to 23.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	H H	1 13
"HH"	The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 00 to 23.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	HH HH	01 13
m"	The minute, from 0 through 59.	6/15/2009 1:09:30 AM 6/15/2009 1:29:30 PM	m m	9 29
"mm"	The minute, from 00 through 59.	6/15/2009 1:09:30 AM 6/15/2009 1:29:30 PM	mm mm	09 29
"M"	The month, from 1 through 12.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	M	6
"MM"	The month, from 01 through 12.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	MM	06
"MMM"	The abbreviated name of the month.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	MMM	Jun
"MMMM"	The full name of the month.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	MMMM	June
"s"	The second, from 0 through 59.	6/15/2009 1:45:09 PM	s	9
"ss"	The second, from 00 through 59.	6/15/2009 1:45:09 PM	ss	09
"t"	The first character of the AM/PM designator.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	t	P
"tt"	The AM/PM designator.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	tt	PM
"y"	The year, from 0 to 99.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	y	9
"yy"	The year, from 00 to 99.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	yy	09
"yyy"	The year, with a minimum of three digits.	1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	yyy yyy	001 2009
"yyyy"	The year as a four-digit number.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	yyyy	2009
"yyyyy"	The year as a five-digit number.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	yyyyy	02009
"z"	Hours offset from UTC, with no leading zeros.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -07:00	z	-7
"zz"	Hours offset from UTC, with a leading zero for a single-digit value.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -07:00	zz	-07
"zzz"	Hours and minutes offset from UTC.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM -07:00	zzz	-07:00
:"	The time separator.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	hh:mm	01:45
"/"	The date separator.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	MM/dd	6/15
"string" 'string'	Literal string delimiter.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM 6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	"arr:" h:m t 'arr:' h:m t	arr: 1:45 P arr: 1:45 P
%	Defines the following character as a custom format specifier.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	%h	1
\	The escape character.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 PM	h \h	1 h
Any other character	The character is copied to the result string unchanged.	6/15/2009 1:45:30 AM	arr hh:mm t	arr 01:45 A

Formatting Guids

The following table describes format specifiers for the Guid data type.

Format	Description	Raw Value (`Guid`)	Format String	Displayed Result
N	Displays 32 characters.	3261a3cfc18f4747b957e5264b6a430c	N	3261a3cfc18f4747b957e5264b6a430c
D	Displays 32 characters separated by hyphens.	3261a3cfc18f4747b957e5264b6a430c	D	3261a3cf-c18f-4747-b957-e5264b6a430c
B	Displays 32 characters separated by hyphens and enclosed in braces.	3261a3cfc18f4747b957e5264b6a430c	B	{3261a3cf-c18f-4747-b957-e5264b6a430c }
P	Displays 32 characters separated by hyphens and enclosed in parentheses.	3261a3cfc18f4747b957e5264b6a430c	P	(3261a3cf-c18f-4747-b957-e5264b6a430c)
X	Four hexadecimal values enclosed in braces, where the fourth value is a subset of eight hexadecimal values enclosed in another set of braces.	3261a3cfc18f4747b957e5264b6a430c	X	{0x3261a3cf,0xc18f,0x4747,{0xb0,0x57,0xe5,0x26,0x4b,0x6a,0x43,0x0c}}