Date Variables

Create a Date Variable

Under the Automate icon, click Variables, and add a variable with the "+" sign.

Choose "Date" as the Variable Type.

Set the Variable Name

Double-click the name, or choose "Rename" under the "..." menu.

Set General Properties

Visible

Defines if the variable will be visible in the Studio UI to the end user.

Display Format

A date can be displayed in several formats, depending on the local preferences. You can set a formatting string, how to display the date.

You can experiment by entering different combinations of characters to define the Display Format you want in your template.

The initial value (upon creation) for the formatting is "dd/MM/yyyy"

Leaving the field empty will result in an empty display of the date.

Format

Supported Date patterns to specify the date format.

• Day -> d, dd
• Month -> M, MM, MMM, MMMM
• Year -> yy, yyyy
• Day of week -> ccc, cccc

See ICU formatting overview (Only the above formats are supported)

Examples for an input date of 04-01-1815

• Format dd/MM/yyyy will display 01/04/1815
• Format d.M.yy will display 1.4.15
• Format dd.M.yy will display 01.4.15
• Format dd.MM.yy will display 01.04.15
• Format d MMM yyyy will display 1 Apr 1815 for the en_US language
• Format MMMM d, yyyy will display April 1, 1815 for the en_US language
• Format ccc, MMM d, yyyy will display Mon, Apr 1, 1815 for the en_US language
• Format cccc, MMMM d, yyyy will display Monday, April 1, 1815 for the en_US language
• Format cccc, MMMM d, yyyy will display maandag, april 1, 1815 for the nl language

Language

Will display the name of the month or day in the chosen language

Will work for patterns which output words such as MMM, MMMM, cc and ccc. Default is en_US.

Start & End Date

Setting a start and / or end date, will limit the choice for end users, to pick a date in that range.

A start and end date can be

• None
• Specific Date
• Relative Date

Specific Date

The possible earliest date, or possible latest date can be made specific. E.g. Headquarters defined that a campaign can be valid within a larger period, but local marketeers can choose the exact start- and end date.

Relative Date

Setting a number relative to the current date (current = when you open the document), enables a template designer to set a date prior to the current, or x days after the current date.

As an example, setting 0 in the "Start date" (Type Relative Date), prevents the end user to pick a date in the past.

Excluded days

Choose what days of the week should be excluded from the selection available for the end user.

The result

Your settings will define how the date picker is displayed.

In the Template Designer Workspace you'll see a preview

In Studio UI (My Projects), you will see what an end user can see.

Current date is Aug 7, 2024. First possible date to select is Aug 15. Last possible date is 30 days after today: Sept 6. Saturdays and Sundays are excluded.

Use in Actions

Different helper functions are available in Actions related to Date variables.

In Actions, you can use JavaScript to address the value and/or properties for date variables.

• getDateVariableValue
• setDateVariableValue
• setDateVariableDisplayFormat (see Display Format above)
• setDateVariableLanguage

Use in the API

Using the API, you can pass data in the form of JSON to populate the variables.

E.g. With the PDF Output endpoint, you can pass 1 set (or a full array) of variables. Dates can be passed as strings.

    # Format to be used: yyyy-MM-dd
    {
        "var_date": "2024-07-15"
    }

Example to pass 1 set of variables:

"variables": [
    {
        "var_text": "Single line of text",
        "var_image": "CHILI care soap",
        "var_date": "2024-07-15"
    }

Example to pass multiple sets of variables (for VDP output):

"variables": [
    {
        "var_text": "Single line of text",
        "var_image": "CHILI care soap",
        "var_date": "2024-07-15"
    },
    {
        "var_text": "Second line of text",
        "var_image": "CHILI care shampoo",
        "var_date": "2024-07-19"
    }
]

Remark

Only pass a date, no time