[RESOLVED] time&date form field

mrjoeblack

Hi, question re a form to dbase set-up.
Can anyone tell me, is it possible to have a form field which will automatically enter a date (and maybe even time if poss) into a dbase column upon submit of the data???

cheers!

bradgrafelman

Why does it have to be a "form field" ? Nothing says the data you insert into the DB has to come solely from user-provided data.

In addition, which DBMS are you using? If it's MySQL, for example, then I would say you're looking for a TIMESTAMP column with a default value of CURRENT_TIMESTAMP; that would cause MySQL to automatically insert the current date and time into the field (assuming you don't provide a value yourself).

mrjoeblack

Thanks Brad, I never thot of that, it's all sorted now. I just have to figure out how to make the DB print the datestamp in my time zone and not USA lol. Any ideas on that one???

bradgrafelman

See the TIMESTAMP Properties MySQL manual page for more info on how MySQL handles TIMESTAMP values and timezones.

mrjoeblack

Guys I'm just coming back on this one again because I got the time stamp working ok but I notice if I edit a row in the Db, the timestamp renews itself for the edit time. Whilst this might be useful, I'm wondering if I can make the original timestamp stick and not adjust on an edit?

Derokorian

You must have on update current_timestamp. Try the following (change table and column to be the table and column you use:

ALTER TABLE  `table` CHANGE  `column`  `column` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

mrjoeblack

Mr Derokorian,

you are a geneous ... that worked!! tnx

Weedpacket

mrjoeblack;10996515 wrote:
Mr Derokorian,

you are a geneous ... that worked!! tnx

Depends on what a "geneous" is, but does being able to find this page in the manual and the paragraph on that page saying

With a DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP clause and no ON UPDATE clause, the column has the current timestamp for its default value but is not automatically updated.

really enough to make somebody one? I found it in five clicks under twenty seconds, starting from http://dev.mysql.com/. Am I a "geneous" as well?