Defining date fields
Use date fields to store:
 •
dates you need to sort or search through
 •
dates used in calculation formulas or summary fields
Date fields can store values from January 1, 0001 to December 31, 4000.
Important  To avoid confusion when using dates in FileMaker Pro, always use four-digit years. For more information, see Conversion of dates with two-digit years.
To define date fields:
1.
With the database open, choose File menu > Manage > Database.
2.
In the Manage Database dialog box, click the Fields tab.
3.
If your database contains more than one table, select the appropriate table from the Table list.
4.
For Field Name, type a name for the field.
See About naming fields.
5.
For Type, select Date.
6.
Click Create.
7.
To set options for the field, click Options.
See Setting options for fields. To make sure dates are always entered with four-digit years, see Defining field validation.
8.
Continue to define fields, or click OK.
To define date fields in Table View:
1.
With the database open in Browse mode, click Table View Table View button in the layout bar.
2.
Click + in the column heading to add a new field.
3.
Right-click the column heading for the new field.
4.
Choose Field > Field Type > Date from the shortcut menu.
5.
To select options for the field, right-click the column heading for the field, then choose Field > Field Options.
Notes
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The separators in date fields and the order in which the date parts appear depend on the system formats set for the file and the display format for the field. For information on changing the display format for a field (for example, July 7, 2014 or 7/7/2014), see Specifying formats for date fields.
 •
New files and clones of existing files use the current operating system format for date formatting.
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If you are using FileMaker Pro Advanced, you can copy field schemas from one file and paste them into the same file or some other file. For more information, see Copying and pasting field schemas (FileMaker Pro Advanced).
Related topics 
Working with data in date fields
Dates are not as expected
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