How do I subtract a date stored as an 8 char string "CCCCMMDD" (dBase
Date field) from the current system date to retrieve the difference in
days between these 2 values.

Rainer

------------------------------------------------------

DateDiff is an only moderately useful function for calculating the
"elapsed time" between two dates.  That is, it can only calculate Dates,
not hours and minutes -- documentation to the contrary notwithstanding.

The MS KB offers a workaround user-defined function, which I quote in
relevant part:

[quote]
GetElapsedTime() Sample Function
--------------------------------

To create the GetElapsedTime() function, follow these steps:

1. Create a new table with the following structure and save it as
TimeLog.

      Table: TimeLog
      -----------------------
      Field Name: StartTime
         Data Type: Date/Time
         Format: General Date
      Field Name: EndTime
         Data Type: Date/Time
         Format: General Date

2. View the TimeLog table in Datasheet view, enter the following three
   records, and then close the table:

      StartTime                 EndTime
      ----------------------------------------------
      5/10/95 4:57:00  P.M.    5/15/95 2:38:00 A.M.
      5/11/95 10:17:31 A.M.    5/24/95 6:05:00 P.M.
      5/18/95 9:16:43  A.M.    5/19/95 5:03:00 P.M.

3. Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations
section:

      Option Explicit

4. Enter the following function.

   NOTE: In the following sample code, an underscore (_) is used as a
line-
   continuation character. Remove the underscore when re-creating this
code
   in Access Basic.

      Function GetElapsedTime (interval)
         Dim totalhours As Long, totalminutes As Long, totalseconds As
Long
         Dim days As Long, hours As Long, Minutes As Long, Seconds As
Long

         days = Int(CSng(interval))
         totalhours = Int(CSng(interval * 24))
         totalminutes = Int(CSng(interval * 1440))
         totalseconds = Int(CSng(interval * 86400))
         hours = totalhours Mod 24
         Minutes = totalminutes Mod 60
         Seconds = totalseconds Mod 60

      GetElapsedTime = days & " Days " & hours & " Hours " & Minutes & _
         " Minutes " & Seconds & " Seconds "

      End Function

5. To test this function, create a new report based on the TimeLog table
   using the AutoReport Wizard.

6. View the report in Design view.

7. Add an unbound text box to the TimeLog table's detail section and set
   its properties as follows:

      Textbox:
         Name: ElapsedTime
         ControlSource: =GetElapsedTime([EndTime]-[StartTime])
         Width: 3 inches

8. Preview the report. Note that each record displays the total elapsed
   time in days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

GetTimeCardTotal() Sample Function
----------------------------------

To create the GetTimeCardTotal() function, follow these steps:

1. Create a new table with the following structure and save it as
TimeCard.

      Table: TimeCard
      -----------------------
      Field Name: Daily Hours
         Data Type: Date/Time
         Format: Short Time

2. View the TimeCard table in Datasheet view, enter the following four
   records, and then close the table:

      8:15
      7:37
      8:12
      8:03

3. Create a module and type the following line in the Declarations
section
   if it's not already there:

      Option Explicit

4. Type the following function:

      Function GetTimeCardTotal ()
        Dim db As Database, rs As Recordset
        Dim totalhours As Long, totalminutes As Long
        Dim days As Long, hours As Long, minutes As Long
        Dim interval As Variant, j As Integer

        Set db = dbengine.workspaces(0).databases(0)
        Set rs = db.OpenRecordset("timecard")
        interval = #12:00:00 AM#
           For j = 0 To rs.recordcount - 1
             interval = interval + rs![Daily hours]
             rs.MoveNext
           Next j
        totalhours = Int(CSng(interval * 24))
        totalminutes = Int(CSng(interval * 1440))
        hours = totalhours Mod 24
        minutes = totalminutes Mod 60

      GetTimeCardTotal = totalhours & " hours and " & minutes & "
minutes"

      End Function

5. To test this function, type the following line in the DeBug Window
(or
   Immediate window in version 1.x and 2.0), and then press ENTER:

      ? GetTimeCardTotal ()

   Note that the DeBug Window displays 32 hours and 7 minutes.

REFERENCES
==========

For more information about calculating date/time values, please see the
following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q130514
   TITLE     : Storing, Calculating, and Comparing Date/Time Data

You can also obtain this article through Microsoft FastTips by ordering
item number Q130514 from the FastTips Main Menu.

[end quote]

Hi Fred,

I thought something like this:

Suppose your dBase date is in a variable called dBDate, which is a string.

Dim Date1 as Long, Date2 as Long, Difference as Integer

Date1 = Int(CVDate(Right$(dBDate,2) + "-" + Mid$(dBDate,5,2) + "-" +
Left$(dBDate,4)
Date2 = Int(Now)
Difference = Date2 - Date1

It works with me

It was on 3 Sep 1996 15:37:22 GMT, that "Th.M.J. Hollenberg"

thoughtful reflections:

You can use DateDiff & DateSerial for counting with dates !!!
If you use strings, you get problems with different date-formats

Marc Gruben