MATLAB Function Reference    
datestr

Date string format

Syntax

Description

The datestr function converts serial date numbers (defined by datenum) and date vectors (defined by datevec) into date strings.

str = datestr(DT,dateform) converts a single date vector, or each element of an array of serial date numbers to a date string. Date strings with two-character years, e.g., 12-june-12, are assumed to lie within the 100-year period centered about the current year.

str = datestr(DT,dateform,P) uses the specified pivot year as the starting year of the 100-year range in which a two-character year resides. The default pivot year is the current year minus 50 years.

The optional argument dateform specifies the date format of the result. dateform can be either a number or a string:

dateform
(number)
 dateform (string)
 Example
0
 'dd-mmm-yyyy HH:MM:SS'
 01-Mar-2000 15:45:17
1
 'dd-mmm-yyyy'
 01-Mar-2000
2
 'mm/dd/yy'
 03/01/00
3
 'mmm'
 Mar
4
 'm'
 M
5
 'mm'
 03
6
 'mm/dd'
 03/01
7
 'dd'
 01
8
 'ddd'
 Wed
9
 'd'
 W
10
 'yyyy'
 2000
11
 'yy'
 00
12
 'mmmyy'
 Mar00
13
 'HH:MM:SS'
 15:45:17
14
 'HH:MM:SS PM'
 3:45:17 PM
15
 'HH:MM'
 15:45
16
 'HH:MM PM'
 3:45 PM
17
 'QQ-YY'
 Q1-01
18
 'QQ'
 Q1
19
 'dd/mm'
 01/03
20
 'dd/mm/yy'
 01/03/00
21
 'mmm.dd.yyyy HH:MM:SS'
 Mar.01,2000 15:45:17
22
 'mmm.dd.yyyy'
 Mar.01.2000
23
 'mm/dd/yyyy'
 03/01/2000
24
 'dd/mm/yyyy'
 01/03/2000
25
 'yy/mm/dd'
 00/03/01
26
 'yyyy/mm/dd'
 2000/03/01
27
 'QQ-YYYY'
 Q1-2001
28
 'mmmyyyy'
 Mar2000
29 (ISO 8601)
 'yyyy-mm-dd'
 2000-03-01
30 (ISO 8601)
 'yyyymmddTHHMMSS'
 20000301T154517
31
 'yyyy-mm-dd HH:MM:SS'
 2000-03-01 15:45:17

Time formats like 'h:m:s', 'h:m:s.s', 'h:m pm', ... can also be part of the input array DT. If you do not specify dateform, or if you specify dateform as -1, the date string format defaults to

1
 if DT contains date information only, e.g., 01-Mar-1995
16
 if DT contains time information only e.g., 03:45 PM
0
 if DT is a date vector, or a string that contains both date and time information e.g., 01-Mar-1995 03:45

See Also

date, datetick, datenum, datevec


  datenum datetick