Date Time

A date-time is a string in the format prescribed by the XML standard for date data, similar to ISO 8601.

Note: Every date, time, and date-time value has an associated time zone. Unless otherwise specified, this is the time zone of the PC running IPA Designer or, on a work item, of the user's computer. For more information, see Configuring Time Zone Settings.

IPA Designer supports dates from January 1, 1800 to December 31, 2200, inclusive. Using dates or date-times outside of that range might cause your process to work incorrectly.

To add a date-time variable:

1. In the Processes list, double-click the Variables container in your process.
   
   IPA Designer displays the Variables workspace in the center pane.

2. Right-click a blank area of the Variables workspace, point to Add, and click DateTime in the shortcut menu.
   
   IPA Designer displays the Add Variable dialog box (see figure).
   
   

3. Enter a name, label, and description:

   1. In the Name text box, type the name of the variable. The variable name must begin with a letter.

   2. In the Label text box, type the label to identify the variable on work item pages.

   3. In the Description text box, type a brief description of the variable.

4. If you want to create the variable as a collection (see the section on Collections of Variables), select the check box labeled Contains a collection of variables.

5. Select the variable's security and accessibility settings:

   1. In the Security list box, expand the list box to select from a list of security specifications previously created in Interaction Administrator.

   2. In the Accessibility list, either accept the default accessibility value of Private or expand the list box to select from the list of accessibility settings.

6. (Optional) To limit the variable's possible values to a specific list of dates:

   1. Click the Yes radio button after the label Limit values to list. IPA Designer displays an Available Values text box (see figure).
      
      

   2. Click the Collection  icon at the right end of the text box. IPA Designer displays the Edit Date Collection dialog box (see figure).
      
      

   3. Click Plus  to add a date-time to the collection, then select the date-time from the drop-down calendar. After you select a date-time, you can change the default time of 11:00am by clicking the time in the text box and typing the desired time.

   4. Repeat (c) to add more as needed.

   5. Click OK to return to the Add Variable dialog box.

 Note: If you limit the variable's values to a list, you cannot set minimum or maximum values for the variable. In addition, you must set an initial value that appears in the list. When you select the Yes radio button for limiting the values to a list, IPA Designer automatically changes the Initial Value text box to a drop-down list and fills in the suggested initial value.

7. (Optional) To set a minimum or maximum value, click the down arrow  button at the right end of the Minimum value or Maximum value row, click Literal, then select a date-time from the drop-down calendar. You can then change the default time by clicking the time in the text box and typing the desired time.

8. (Optional) If you want to set an initial value for the variable:

 Note: If you previously (in Step 6) limited the variable's value to a list, then the Initial Value box is already a drop-down list. Select a value from the list, then skip directly to Step 9.

1. 1. Click the down arrow  button at the right end of the Initial value row. If the variable is a collection, click the Collection icon and add items, then go to Step 9 of this procedure.

   2. In the drop-down list, click Literal.

   3. In the drop-down calendar, select a date-time. You can then change the default time by clicking the time in the text box and typing the desired time.

9. Click Add.
   
   IPA Designer adds your new variable to the variable list in the Variables workspace.

Properties of Date Time Variables