Use the FormatDate property to format a date. Use the NextDate property to increase or decrease a date based on a time unit. Use the FirstVisibleDate property to retrieve the first visible date. The DateFromPoint property gets the date from the cursor. Use the WeekDays property to specify the name of the days in the week. Use the MonthNames property to specify the name of the months in the year. Use the AMPM property to specify the name of the AM and PM indicators.

The Format parameter may include the following built-in tags:

• <%d%> - Day of the month in one or two numeric digits, as needed (1 to 31).
• <%dd%> - Day of the month in two numeric digits (01 to 31).
• <%d1%> - First letter of the weekday (S to S). ( Use the WeekDays property to specify the name of the days in the week )
• <%d2%> - First two letters of the weekday (Su to Sa). ( Use the WeekDays property to specify the name of the days in the week )
• <%d3%> - First three letters of the weekday (Sun to Sat). ( Use the WeekDays property to specify the name of the days in the week )
• <%ddd%> - First three letters of the weekday (Sun to Sat). ( Use the WeekDays property to specify the name of the days in the week ). You can use the <%loc_ddd%> that indicates the day of week as a three-letter abbreviation using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_ddd%> - Indicates the day of week as a three-letter abbreviation using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%dddd%> - Full name of the weekday (Sunday to Saturday). ( Use the WeekDays property to specify the name of the days in the week ). You can use the <%loc_dddd%> that indicates day of week as its full name using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_dddd%> - Indicates day of week as its full name using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%i%> - Displays the number instead the date. For instance, you can display numbers as 1000, 1001, 1002, 1003,  instead dates. ( the valid range is from -647,434 to 2,958,465 )
• <%w%> - Day of the week (1 to 7).
• <%ww%> - Week of the year (1 to 53).
• <%m%> - Month of the year in one or two numeric digits, as needed (1 to 12).
• <%mr%> - Month of the year in Roman numerals, as needed (I to XII).
• <%mm%> - Month of the year in two numeric digits (01 to 12).
• <%m1%> - First letter of the month (J to D). ( Use the MonthNames property to specify the name of the months in the year )
• <%m2%> - First two letters of the month (Ja to De). ( Use the MonthNames property to specify the name of the months in the year )
• <%m3%> - First three letters of the month (Jan to Dec). ( Use the MonthNames property to specify the name of the months in the year )
• <%mmm%> - First three letters of the month (Jan to Dec). ( Use the MonthNames property to specify the name of the months in the year ). You can use the <%loc_mmm%> that indicates month as a three-letter abbreviation using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_mmm%> - Indicates month as a three-letter abbreviation using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%mmmm%> - Full name of the month (January to December). ( Use the MonthNames property to specify the name of the months in the year ). You can use the <%loc_mmmm%> that indicates month as its full name using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_mmmm%> - Indicates month as its full name using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%q%> - Date displayed as the quarter of the year (1 to 4).
• <%y%> - Number of the day of the year (1 to 366).
• <%yy%> - Last two digits of the year (01 to 99).
• <%yyyy%> - Full year (0100 to 9999).
• <%hy%> - Date displayed as the half of the year (1 to 2).
• <%loc_gg%> - Indicates period/era using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_sdate%> - Indicates the date in the short format using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_ldate%> - Indicates the date in the long format using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_dsep%> - Indicates the date separator using the current user regional and language settings (/).
• <%h%> - Hour in one or two digits, as needed (0 to 23).
• <%hh%> - Hour in two digits (00 to 23).
• <%n%> - Minute in one or two digits, as needed (0 to 59).
• <%nn%> - Minute in two digits (00 to 59).
• <%s%> - Second in one or two digits, as needed (0 to 59).
• <%ss%> - Second in two digits (00 to 59).
• <%AM/PM%> - Twelve-hour clock with the uppercase letters "AM" or "PM", as appropriate. ( Use the AMPM property to specify the name of the AM and PM indicators ). You can use the <%loc_AM/PM%> that indicates the time marker such as AM or PM using the current user regional and language settings. You can use <%loc_A/P%> that indicates the one character time marker such as A or P using the current user regional and language settings
• <%loc_AM/PM%> - Indicates the time marker such as AM or PM using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_A/P%> - Indicates the one character time marker such as A or P using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_time%> - Indicates the time using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_time24%> - Indicates the time in 24 hours format without a time marker using the current user regional and language settings.
• <%loc_tsep%> - indicates the time separator using the current user regional and language settings (:).

The following tags are displayed based on the user's Regional and Language Options:

• <%loc_sdate%> - Indicates the date in the short format using the current user settings.
• <%loc_ldate%> - Indicates the date in the long format using the current user settings.
• <%loc_ddd%> - Indicates day of week as a three-letter abbreviation using the current user settings.
• <%loc_dddd%> - Indicates day of week as its full name using the current user settings.
• <%loc_mmm%> - Indicates month as a three-letter abbreviation using the current user settings.
• <%loc_mmmm%> - Indicates month as its full name using the current user settings.
• <%loc_gg%> - Indicates period/era using the current user settings.
• <%loc_dsep%> - Indicates the date separator using the current user settings.
• <%loc_time%> - Indicates the time using the current user settings.
• <%loc_time24%> - Indicates the time in 24 hours format without a time marker using the current user settings.
• <%loc_AM/PM%> - Indicates the time marker such as AM or PM using the current user settings.
• <%loc_A/P%> - Indicates the one character time marker such as A or P using the current user settings.
• <%loc_tsep%> - Indicates the time separator using the current user settings.
• <%loc_y%> - Represents the Year only by the last digit, using current regional settings.
• <%loc_yy%> - Represents the Year only by the last two digits, using current regional settings. A leading zero is added for single-digit years.
• <%loc_yyyy%> - Represents the Year by a full four or five digits, depending on the calendar used. Thai Buddhist and Korean calendars have five-digit years. The "yyyy" pattern shows five digits for these two calendars, and four digits for all other supported calendars. Calendars that have single-digit or two-digit years, such as for the Japanese Emperor era, are represented differently. A single-digit year is represented with a leading zero, for example, "03". A two-digit year is represented with two digits, for example, "13". No additional leading zeros are displayed.

The following VB sample displays the next day as "Tue, May 31, 2005":

With Gantt1.Chart
    Debug.Print .FormatDate(.NextDate(.FirstVisibleDate, exDay, 2), "<%ddd%>, <%mmmm%> <%d%>, <%yyyy%>")
End With

The following C++ sample displays the next day as "Tue, May 31, 2005":

CChart chart = m_gantt.GetChart();
DATE d = chart.GetNextDate( V2D( &chart.GetFirstVisibleDate() ), 4096, COleVariant( (long)1 ) );
CString strFormat = chart.GetFormatDate( d, "<%ddd%>, <%mmmm%> <%d%>, <%yyyy%>" );
OutputDebugString( strFormat );

where the V2D function converts a Variant expression to a DATE expression:

static DATE V2D( VARIANT* pvtDate )
{
	COleVariant vtDate;
	vtDate.ChangeType( VT_DATE, pvtDate );
	return V_DATE( &vtDate );
}

The following VB.NET sample displays the next day as "Tue, May 31, 2005":

With AxGantt1.Chart
    Debug.Write(.FormatDate(.NextDate(.FirstVisibleDate, EXGANTTLib.UnitEnum.exDay, 2), "<%ddd%>, <%mmmm%> <%d%>, <%yyyy%>"))
End With

The following C# sample displays the next day as "Tue, May 31, 2005":

DateTime d = Convert.ToDateTime( axGantt1.Chart.get_NextDate(Convert.ToDateTime(axGantt1.Chart.FirstVisibleDate), EXGANTTLib.UnitEnum.exDay, 1) );
String strFormat = axGantt1.Chart.get_FormatDate(d, "<%ddd%>, <%mmmm%> <%d%>, <%yyyy%>");
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Write(strFormat);

The following VFP sample displays the next day as "Tue, May 31, 2005":

With thisform.Gantt1.Chart
    wait window nowait .FormatDate(.NextDate(.FirstVisibleDate, 4096, 2), "<%ddd%>, <%mmmm%> <%d%>, <%yyyy%>")
EndWith