DATETIME

The DATETIME option specifies the date window that is used for the windowing algorithm.

DATETIME option syntax

Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagramDATETIME(4-digit-base-century2-digit-base-year)

Default is: DATETIME(1900, 40)

Abbreviations are: None

4-digit-base-century
This must be the first argument. Defines the base century used for the windowing algorithm. The default value is 1900.
2-digit-base-year
This must be the second argument. Defines the base year used for the windowing algorithm. The default value is 40.

The default option DATETIME(1900, 40) results in a 100-year window of 1940 through 2039. Specifying DATETIME(1900 70) results in a 100-year window of 1970 through 2069.

Option specification:
  • As an option in the cob2 command, the arguments must be surrounded by single quotes; for example, DATETIME(‘1900 40’).
  • As a process statement, the arguments can be written without quotes; for example, DATETIME(1900 40).
  • If the DATETIME option is not specified, or no arguments are supplied, both base-century and base-year take their default values. Base-century can be specified without a following base-year argument, in which case base-year will take its default value. If base-year is specified, base-century must also be specified.