date format

[Nick Beale]

Unfortunately, GB uses both 15/04/45 and 15-04-45

You rarely see the second of those; much more common is 15.04.45; some Luftwaffe documents use 15.IV.45 (Roman numeral for the month).

It does seem to make sense that if we are discussing events in Europe, we use a European format of day/month/year.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Nick,

For the reason you cite, I sometimes use the dot convention, especially if mailing to someone in Europe. That said, my guess is that there are a whole lot of us from the U.S. and, although the U.S. government has dabled in trying to get us to go metric, it hasn't taken. So, it is what it is.

Fortunately, 99+% of what we write here is in English. But, we have a whole lot of members who don't have English as their primary language, but have either learned it well or try as best they can to write here in broken English. Just imagine the mess we would really be in if everyone wrote in their native tongue!!!

The irony is even greater, as we are discussing historical events in Germany where English was certainly not the native tongue. We even have documents written in Sütterlin or a basterdized version thereof and need to come hat in hand to those that actually understand this very old version of German.

Put into perspective, what date convention is used is an annoyance, one we can certainly live with. For those willing to make the effort to be better understood in this regard, we should be grateful. If a scan of the original German document is provided, we know automatically that it follows the day-month-year convention.

Regards,
Richard

[G.R.Morrison]

This reply is merely to 'defend the honor of ancient databases.' We've always used day/month/year (and when first begun in the 1980s, it was on an extinct Apple platform, before Access).

Usually, if I'm responding to an inquiry, I'll write-out the month to lessen confusion. I also follow the German convention of 'Zeit vor Ort,' so when something occurred appears before the location.

BTW, if you've been missing Jim's replies lately, it's because he's been swamped with work.

GRM

[John Beaman]

Guys, thanks for all the input and ideas for date formats. My actual point is that pure numeric formats regardless of which sequence/format they follow can still lead to confusion. Eg: 11-4-43. Is this Nov 4 or April 11. That's why, in order to cover all EU, NA, SEA, etc. conventions, we could use an actual month name--eg., Nov, etc. That removes all confusion whether you do it Nov-4-43, 43-Nov-4 or whatever.

I do not think we will get every one on this board to use the same total numeric format, per se, so this might be the best format to work towards. Using a month name is only one more keystroke!

As for the US and metric, I would love it, but the US Congress rejected a change prior to the NAFTA and WTA agreements. Now, after approving these agreements, that we are in "worldwide trading", it amazes me that we are not metric. All manufacturers that export are metric, and to work on my lawn mower I must have metric tools--do not ask me why we have not changed--stupid and education? Its not like we are not familiar with metric. In the '50s and '60s we learned in high school and in university. Many of our athletic competitions, swimming, track, etc. have been metric for years. Frankly, I am not sure who is still fighting this.

[Revi16]

Count yourselves lucky for being historians of earth wars!

Stardate 41153.7 http://trekguide.com/Stardates.htm