Automatically creating data filename out of date and time information

Question

I read somewhere (in a book, here ?) about a programmer who never keyed in a data filename to save his data file. He just used the system date and time to create his filename. For example: now would be 20028141032.dat (2002, August 14, 10:32 am)
I am looking to do something similar. I do want to add a spot of text after the date and time and save it as *.xls.
This way when you have a long list of data files, if you sort by name, they are sequentially in order.
Thanks for any help.
Terry

Answer 1

Hi Terry,
You can use "Seconds to Date/Time" Funtion along with "File Dialog" Function to accomplish your task. You Unbundle the cluster from the "Seconds to Date/Time" with Year, Month, Day, Hour and Minute Information Convert and Append into One String. You Can add Pre or Post text to this String. Wire this to File Dialog Box and it will Pop up the Window With File Name in it as Default. Also the extemsion of the file name can be specified here. The User has Option to change this or accept this default name.
I have attached an Example Vi to Illustrate this(LV6.1) Take a Look. To Use this Just Wire the Path Information to your Saving Functional VI. Also the Vi Checks if File Exists or Dialog Box is Cancelled. And You may Build Functionality for the
se if you need them.
Good Luck.
Mache
Good Luck!
Mache
Attachments:
DateStamped_File_Name.vi ‏29 KB