Good Morning,

I currently use this code:
&YYMD = 05/01/2012

-SET &MYYEAR = DATECVT(DATEADD(DATECVT (&YYMD, 'I8YYMD', 'YYMD'),'M', -5 ), 'YYMD','YY');
-SET &MYMONTH = DATECVT(DATEADD(DATECVT (&YYMD, 'I8YYMD', 'YYMD'),'M', -5 ), 'YYMD','M');

MYYEAR --> returns the year from 5 months ago = 2011
MYMONTH --> returns the month from 5 months ago = 12

We do this a lot. I would LOVE to make this simpiler by building a DEFINE FUNCTION that will calculate the year by passing in 2 variables (aDate, aMonthsAgo). I gave it a try but I keep getting the following error. Can someone point me in the correct direction?

My code:
DEFINE FUNCTION GETYEAR(myDate/I8YYMD, pastMonths/I2)
GETYEAR/YY = DATECVT(DATEADD(DATECVT (myDate, 'I8YYMD', 'YYMD'),'M', pastMonths ), 'YYMD','YY');;
END

-SET &MYYEAR = GETYEAR(&YYMD, -4, 'YY');
-RUN
-TYPE &MYYEAR
-EXIT

My Error:
(FOC263) EXTERNAL FUNCTION OR LOAD MODULE NOT FOUND: GETYEAR

Thank you for taking the time to read and help.

Nick

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

  
DEFINE FUNCTION GETYEAR(myDate/I8YYMD, pastMonths/I2)
GETYEAR/YY = DATECVT(DATEADD(DATECVT (myDate, 'I8YYMD', 'YYMD'),'M', pastMonths ), 'YYMD','YY');
END
-RUN
-SET &MYYEAR = GETYEAR(&YYMD, -4);
-RUN
-TYPE &MYYEAR
-EXIT

This works.

Daniel, that works great.

To Recap: The difference between my code (not working) and your code (working):
1) Add the RUN statement after the DEFINE FUNCTION
2) Remove the extra ; (wish Dev Studio could tell me I did this :-)
3) Remove the data type in the calling of GETYEAR()

Thank you.

you know about the AYMD and AYM functions?

Ahich one's "extra"?

quote:

2) Remove the extra ;

quote:

Originally posted by susannah:
you know about the AYMD and AYM functions?

Agreed WF offers a lot of options for working with dates. The reason why I didn't choose to use AYM is because of the required date format of (Year/Month). I like working with full dates. Even if the end game is just using the Month or Year format. AYMD I see no need for :-), but that is because my apps are mostly months at a time, and not X # of days.

quote:

Originally posted by Doug:
Ahich one's "extra"?

quote:

2) Remove the extra ;

Sorry I wasn't more clear, the "fixes" were based on the original post code. Just wanted to offer readers the ability to see what was wrong with the original, and how the second one fixed it. I guess I just added more confusion.

Nick, the most important thing here is the -RUN.

Dialog Manager is always parsed first, so when the -SET with GETYEAR is parsed, the DEFINE FUNCTION has not yet been processed.

The -RUN forces WebFOCUS to process up to the -RUN, then continue the parsing.