Storing dates (was: Re: Ticket Ordering Question)

This WebDNA talk-list message is from

2003

It keeps the original formatting. numero = 54983
interpreted = N
texte = >...Also, it hasn't been brought up lately on the list, so I'll mention that most experienced DNA'ers store their dates and times as numerical values (e.g. store the [math]{[date]}[/math] value instead of the [date] value) in their databases whenever they can. This makes searches, sorts and comparisons much easier and faster, and you can format the value for display in any way you wish using the [format days_to_date ...] context.Uhhh... Yeah I bought into that conspiracy a couple of years ago too. "store dates as integer" Today, I say baloney. Once you understand how WebDNA handles dates, searching for a date or doing date math is just as easy using mm/dd/yyy notation. I suspect the whole idea of "store dates as integers" came about because WebDNA's date math was not understood. There may have even been a bug in WebDNA that forced people to use integers instead of dates. I'm sure that's no longer the case.When I was converting dates to integers, I was always getting caught trying to figure out what the integer value of a certain date was if I ever had to examine the database manually, or update a field using a generic database editor. I also find it easier when it's time to export a raw database to have the dates stored as human readable dates.Sure, storing dates as integers saves a couple of octets on your hard drive, and you probably save a few CPU cycles when you do integer math instead of date math. But that's why we have fast CPUs and large disk drives.YMMV.. this is not a rant... just my opinion.~Joe-- _______________________________________________________________ Joseph D'Andrea ~ http://www.west21.com/ ~ JoeDan@West21.com WEST21.com Internet services for the 21st Centurywebhosting ~ co-location ~ wireless access ~ WebCat programming-------------------------------------------------------------This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list .To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/ Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:

>...Also, it hasn't been brought up lately on the list, so I'll mention that most experienced DNA'ers store their dates and times as numerical values (e.g. store the [math]{[date]}[/math] value instead of the [date] value) in their databases whenever they can. This makes searches, sorts and comparisons much easier and faster, and you can format the value for display in any way you wish using the [format days_to_date ...] context.Uhhh... Yeah I bought into that conspiracy a couple of years ago too. "store dates as integer" Today, I say baloney. Once you understand how WebDNA handles dates, searching for a date or doing date math is just as easy using mm/dd/yyy notation. I suspect the whole idea of "store dates as integers" came about because WebDNA's date math was not understood. There may have even been a bug in WebDNA that forced people to use integers instead of dates. I'm sure that's no longer the case.When I was converting dates to integers, I was always getting caught trying to figure out what the integer value of a certain date was if I ever had to examine the database manually, or update a field using a generic database editor. I also find it easier when it's time to export a raw database to have the dates stored as human readable dates.Sure, storing dates as integers saves a couple of octets on your hard drive, and you probably save a few CPU cycles when you do integer math instead of date math. But that's why we have fast CPUs and large disk drives.YMMV.. this is not a rant... just my opinion.~Joe-- _______________________________________________________________ Joseph D'Andrea ~ http://www.west21.com/ ~ JoeDan@West21.com WEST21.com Internet services for the 21st Centurywebhosting ~ co-location ~ wireless access ~ WebCat programming-------------------------------------------------------------This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list .To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://webdna.smithmicro.com/ Joe D'Andrea

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Storing dates (was: Re: Ticket Ordering Question)

2003

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