Normalize date processor
Dates are an important part of many datasets, but they aren't always in a format that Opendatasoft can spontaneously interpret. The Normalize date processor allows you to specify how Opendatasoft should interpret the dates in a dataset.
Below are instructions on how to use the processor. But to properly use the Normalize date processor, it might help you to better understand how Opendatasoft manages dates in general.
Setting the processor
The parameters
Normalize date has two mandatory parameters:
Parameter | Description |
Field | The column containing the date not understood by the platform. |
Date format | The format you want Opendatasoft to use to interpret the date information in that column. It must be expressed using the syntax below. |
Date format syntax
Use the syntax below to specify the date format. For example, "%Y" tells the processor that it should expect the year in the four-digit format (see the table below). You should add each part of the date, in order, separated by the same separator as is used in the dates in your data (most often a hyphen or slash).
For example, if your date information is in the format "2012-29-10," you should write %Y-%d-%m in the processor. If the date reads "2012/29/10" you should write %Y/%d/%m.
Remember that your goal is to match the format currently used by the dates in your data so that the platform knows how to interpret them. The Normalize date processor is not intended to tell the platform how to display the date.
Syntax | Meaning | Example |
%a | Weekday as locale’s abbreviated name | Sun, Mon, ..., Sat |
%A | Weekday as locale’s full name | Sunday, Monday, ..., Saturday |
%w | Weekday as a numeral, where 0 is Sunday and 6 is Saturday | 0, 1, ..., 6 |
%d | Day of the month as a zero-padded numeral | 01, 02, ..., 31 |
%b | Month as locale’s abbreviated name | Jan, Feb, ..., Dec |
%B | Month as locale’s full name | January, February, ..., December |
%m | Month as a zero-padded numeral | 01, 02, ..., 12 |
%y | Year without century as a zero-padded numeral | 00, 01, ..., 99 |
%Y | Year with century, as a four-digit numeral | 1970, 1988, 2001, 2013 |
%H | Hour (24-hour clock) as a zero-padded numeral | 00, 01, ..., 23 |
%I | Hour (12-hour clock) as a zero-padded numeral | 01, 02, ..., 12 |
%p | Locale’s equivalent of either AM or PM | AM, PM |
%M | Minute as a zero-padded numeral | 00, 01, ..., 59 |
%S | Second as a zero-padded numeral | 00, 01, ..., 59 |
%f | Microsecond as a numeral, zero-padded on the left | 000000, 000001, ..., 999999 |
%j | Day of the year as a zero-padded numeral | 001, 002, ..., 366 |
%U | Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a zero padded numeral. All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0 | 00, 01, ..., 53 |
%W | Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number. All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0 | 00, 01, ..., 53 |
Note that the values for %a, %A, %b, %B and %p are only available in English.