Using the DATE type

When calling a Java™ method with an expression evaluating to a DATE, the runtime system converts the DATE value to an instance of the com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate class implemented in FGLDIR/lib/fgl.jar. You can then manipulate the date from within the Java code.

You must add FGLDIR/lib/fgl.jar to the class path in order to compile Java code with com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate class.

The com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate class implements following:

Table 1. Methods of the com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate class
Method	Description
String toString()	Converts the `DATE` value to a String object representing the date in format: YYYY-MM-DD
static void valueOf( String val)	Creates a new `FglDate` object from a String object representing a date in the format YYYY-MM-DD.

In the Java code, you can convert the com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate to a java.util.Calendar object as in this example:

public static void useDate(FglDate d) throws ParseException {
    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
    Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
    cal.setTime( sdf.parse(d.toString()) );
    ...
}

If you need to create an com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate object in your program, you can use the valueOf() class method as in this example:

IMPORT JAVA com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate
MAIN
  DEFINE d com.fourjs.fgl.lang.FglDate
  LET d = FglDate.valueOf("2008-12-23")
  DISPLAY d.toString()
END MAIN