This function evaluates a sample as the number of days since 1/1/1970. The sample must be in one of the following formats:

  • dd/mm/yyyy, with one or two digits for days and months (e.g. 3/12/2006), or
  • dd MMM yy, (e.g. 03 Dec 06), or
  • yyyyMMddHHmm (e.g. 200612031545)

A typical use of this function would be to determine the number of days between when a specimen was requested and when it was collected.

For example, given the following case fragment,

RequestDate             1/1/2005    23/6/2005    28/11/2005
CollectionDate          30/1/2005   25/6/2005    30/9/2005

CollectionDate as days – RequestDate as days > 30