Hi,I have a column in the format of Mon-YY and i need to sort this column.I tried using
conversion of Alpha numeric to Date also with HDATe but in vain.can anyone please help me on this

And my o/p column will has always 12 months and it wil dynamicaly cahneg based on the entered Mon-YY.

Eg: Mar-09 Feb-10

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kerry,

Is the column a smart date format? (like MYY) That's the only way you'll get it to sort correctly. It appears that it is just and alpha representation. HDATE is used for date/time stamps. There is no existing "conversion" from the format you specify (Mar-09) to a smart date. You best best is to use the EDIT and/or DECODE functions:

MTH_TXT/A3=EDIT(MTH_YR_FIELD,'999');
MTH_NUM/A02=DECODE MTH_TXT('Jan' '01' 'Feb' '02'.... );
MTH_YR/A4MY=MTH_NUM | EDIT(MTH_YR_FIELD,'$$$$99');

Perhaps Darin's field should be MTH_YR/A4MY=EDIT(MTH_YR_FIELD,'$$$$99') | MTH_NUM;
For sorting purposes

Actually, to complete the thought, it would have to be converted from an alpha to a smart date ( format MY or YM - wouldn't matter which). As soon as it's a smart date, it will sort in the correct order. As long as it's in alpha format it will have sorting problems. Especially since you're only using a two-digit year. Year 2000 (00) would sort BEFORE year 1999 (99).