String-to-date conversion rules

The conversion of string values into date values must follow some conversion rules.

The conversion rules are as follows:

• If all values, including the leading zeros, of elements of the numeric format model are specified, punctuation marks contained in the format string can be omitted. For example, for a two-digit format element, such as MM, DD and YY, specify 02 instead of 2.

• You can omit the time field found at the end of the formatted date string.

• You can use any nonalphanumeric character in the date string to match punctuation marks in the format string.