Julian dates - they're not what you think

[foxdev]

Before I explain, let me confess - I've been as guilty in the past as everyone else.&nbsp;&nbsp;Now that I know better, though, the phrase &quot;Julian date&quot; always jumps out at me.&nbsp;&nbsp;Blame it on old-age crankiness.<br><br><font color=red><b>Julian Date does not mean day of the year.</b></font><br><br>The day of the year is just that - the day of the year.&nbsp;&nbsp;Perhaps call it &quot;day number&quot; for short.<br><br>Julian date is (and I'm not making this up, to quote Dave Barry) the number of days since January 1, 4713 B.C.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is named after Julius Scaliger, the father of the devisor of this scheme, Joseph Scaliger.&nbsp;&nbsp;The method was developed in 1582.<br><br>By way of proof, execute the following code:<br><br><FONT FACE=monospace>? val(sys(1))/365.25</font><br><br>SYS(1) is VFP's Julian System Date function; this code will return the number of years since Julian &quot;day one&quot;, or roughly 6712 years. <p>Robert Bradley<br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href=

http://www.foxdev.com/>FoxDev

- Visual FoxPro Development</a><br>

 

[Jimgarry]

Thnak you, I have been saying this for a long time. I work with Big 401k companies who don't know what a julian date is. I get file layout specification from them all the time that ask for a julian date of exp 12301 meaing 123 day of 2001 they (the banks and 401k providers) call this julian date. I have tried to explain to the providers that this is not a julian date that most of the dates are from BC.

Thanks
Jim Garry

 

[jhall156]

Not exactly. Check out

http://serendipity.magnet.ch/hermetic/cal_stud/jdn.htm