VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

DateValue Function

Named Arguments

No

Syntax

DateValue(stringexpression)

stringexpression

Use: Required

Data Type: String

Any of the date formats recognized by IsDate.

Return Value

Variant (Date).

Description

Returns a date variant (variant type 7) containing the date represented by stringexpression. The date value is formatted according to the short date setting defined by the Regional Settings applet in the Control Panel. DateValue can successfully recognize a stringexpression in any of the date formats recognized by IsDate. DateValue doesn't return time values in a date/time string; they are simply dropped. However, if stringexpression includes a valid date value but an invalid time value, a runtime error results.

Rules at a Glance

• The order of the day, the month, and the year within stringexpression must be the same as the sequence defined by the computer's regional settings.

• Only those date separators recognized by IsDate can be used.

• If you don't specify a year in your date expression, DateValue uses the current year from the computer's system date.

Example

Dim sDateExpression As String

sDateExpression = 10 & "/" & "March" & "/" & 1998

If IsDate(sDateExpression) Then
    Debug.Print DateValue(sDateExpression)
Else
    Debug.Print "invalid date"
End If

Programming Tips and Gotchas

• When working with dates, always check that a date is valid using the IsDate function prior to passing it as a function parameter.

• If stringexpression includes time information as well as date information, ...