Date and Time to number

Question

I'm trying to create a unique order number using a
combination of DateFormat and TimeFormat. The resulting variable is
still in a date/time and it won't insert into a number field in my
Access database. I'm using the following code to generate my data.
How do I turn the result into just a number so it will go into a
number field in the db?
<CFSET neworder.orderno='#DateFormat(Now(),
"mmddyy")##TimeFormat(Now(), "hms")#'>

Answer 1

> The quotes aren't the problem in this case...
Upon investigation, yes, you're right. Sorry: I've not used
Access since I
was at polytech (about - eek - 13 years ago).
>I believe the problem is how the
> value is represented internally. I believe the string
actually appears
> internally as a long integer similar to: 2.57384849 or
some calculated value
> based on some function.
No. Like I said: "internally" it's stored as a string. It's
stored as a
string because you're constructing it as a string.
> It isn't store as it appears in the <CFOUTPUT>
which
> displays the value in a form that we can read and
understand. That being said,
> I need to save the value as it is displayed to us
humans. :-)
The issue is that you're using a long int on the DB, and long
ints aren't
big enough to store the number you're trying to store.
One of your values could be this: 9160645135; whereas the
maximum number a
long int can store is this: 2147483647.
I still recommend using an autonumber for your key, and
separately storing
the transaction date/time stamp. This is not because I'm
trying to annoy
you, it's because it's good advice, and a better approach
than that which
you're attempting (which also simply will not work).
Or you could use an autonumber for the key, and - if you MUST
- store your
special number as a string. However if the object of the
exercise is "form
that we can read and understand."... then use a date/time.
That is what us
humans are used to looking at when we're reading date/time
data. Not a
series of ten digits. Try an experiment.
When you look at these two strings, which is more obviously a
date:
9160645135
2006-09-16 16:51:35
Sept 16, 2006 4:51pm
Now... problems with your idea:
1) dates in the month less than the 13th will be ambiguous to
anyone
outside the US. If I was to say "9/11/2001" to you, you'd
think Sept 11,
whereas - because I'm in the UK - I mean 9 November.
2) Using your system, one cannot distinguish between hours AM
and hours PM.
3) You cannot sort your numbers in a meaningful way. October
dates will
appear before September dates, and 9am will be later than
11pm.
4) Access cannot accurately store a number of that length.
You;d have to
use a string. Strings aren't very performant as keys. That
said, Access
itself isn't very performant at anything, so this probably
won't be a
problem for you, comparatively.
Adam