Template:Dts/doc

Dts/doc stands for Date Table Sorting and is used to correctly sort and display dates in a sortable table (see Help:Sorting).

What it solves

Normally, for proper sorting, dates must be entered in YYYY-MM-DD format. However, that format does not conform to the Manual of Style for date display. This template automatically creates the hidden key for sorting purposes whilst displaying the date in an alternative format (e.g. day-month-year).

Parameters

Dates

The year, month and day can either be entered separately or as a single date.

{{dts|year|month|day|BC}}

{{dts|date}}

1st parameter – Year (optional if month is given) Positive number (1 to 9999) represent years AD or BC (dependant on the fourth parameter). Negative numbers (−1 to −9999) represent years BC (without the fourth parameter). 2nd parameter – Month (optional if the day is not given either) Full month name – e.g. February Abbreviated month name – e.g. Feb Month number – (either zero-padded or not) e.g. 2 or 02 3rd parameter – Day (optional) Day number – (either zero-padded or not) e.g. 7 or 07 4th parameter – (optional) May be BC, AD, BCE or CE Used with a positive year number

1st parameter – the full date By default YYYY-MM-DD format becomes month-day-year format while other formats remain as input. Abbreviated months are accepted and are returned as input. Capitalisation and comma mistakes are corrected. A single number is interpreted as a year otherwise the date is accepted and interpreted according to the php date/time format (since the {{#time:}} parser is used). Certain limits (e.g. it won't go before 100 AD) therefore apply.

Examples

input style	input code	hidden sort key	visible output
{{dts|year}}	{{dts|1893}}	000000001893-01-01-0000	000000001893-01-01-00001893年
	{{dts|-89}}	-999999999911-01-01-0000	-999999999911-01-01-0000紀元前89年
{{dts|month}}	{{dts|Oct}}	000000002024-10-01-0000	000000002024-10-01-000010月
{{dts|month year}}	{{dts|February 1767}}	000000001767-02-01-0000	000000001767-02-01-00001767年2月
{{dts|day month year}}	{{dts|12 Aug 1987}}	000000001987-08-12-0000	000000001987-08-12-00001987年8月12日
{{dts|month day, year}}	{{dts|July 1, 1867}}	000000001867-07-01-0000	000000001867-07-01-00001867年7月1日
{{dts|day month}}	{{dts|25 October}}	000000002024-10-25-0000	000000002024-10-25-000010月25日
{{dts|month day}}	{{dts|Jan 1}}	000000000001-01-01-0000	000000000001-01-01-00001年1月
{{dts|YYYY-MM-DD}}	{{dts|2014-12-09}}	000000002014-12-09-0000	000000002014-12-09-00002014年12月9日
{{dts|year|month}}	{{dts|1990|10}}	000000001990-10-01-0000	000000001990-10-01-00001990年10月
	{{dts|1980|Dec}}	000000001980-12-01-0000	000000001980-12-01-00001980年12月
	{{dts|1970|August}}	000000001970-08-01-0000	000000001970-08-01-00001970年8月
{{dts|year|month|day}}	{{dts|2024|Jun|12}}	000000002024-06-12-0000	000000002024-06-12-00002024年6月12日
	{{dts|-204|11|22}}	-999999999796-11-22-0000	-999999999796-11-22-0000紀元前204年11月22日
{{dts|year|month|day|era}}	{{dts|44|3|15|BC}}	-999999999956-03-15-0000	-999999999956-03-15-0000紀元前44年3月15日
	{{dts|94|Oct|17|AD}}	000000000094-10-17-0000	000000000094-10-17-000094年10月17日
{{dts||month}}	{{dts||May}}	000000002024-05-01-0000	000000002024-05-01-00005月
{{dts||month|day}}	{{dts||Sep|12}}	000000002024-09-12-0000	000000002024-09-12-00009月12日

Formatting

Using format produces a format that depends on, but is not necessarily equal to the format of the supplied date. This requires multiple calls of function #time, reducing the maximum number of calls of this template on a page in the worst case to 88, see below. The format parameter can take nine values.

Examples

value	function	input code	hidden sort key	visible output
	format depends on the input	{{dts|26 Jan 1788}}	000000001788-01-26-0000	000000001788-01-26-00001788年1月26日
		{{dts|March 12, 1557}}	000000001557-03-12-0000	000000001557-03-12-00001557年3月12日
		{{dts|1975-02-13}}	000000001975-02-13-0000	000000001975-02-13-00001975年2月13日
dmy	displays the date in day-month-year format	{{dts|Sep 13, 1888|format=dmy}}	000000001888-09-13-0000	000000001888-09-13-00001888年9月13日
		{{dts|1983-01-03|format=dmy}}	000000001983-01-03-0000	000000001983-01-03-00001983年1月3日
dm	displays only the day and month in day-month format	{{dts|Feb 26, 1788|format=dm}}	000000001788-02-26-0000	000000001788-02-26-00002月26日
		{{dts|2020-10-15|format=dm}}	000000002020-10-15-0000	000000002020-10-15-000010月15日
mdy	displays the date in month-day-year format	{{dts|August 31, 1901|format=mdy}}	000000001901-08-31-0000	000000001901-08-31-00001901年8月31日
		{{dts|2006-11-08|format=mdy}}	000000002006-11-08-0000	000000002006-11-08-00002006年11月8日
md	displays only the day and month in month-day format	{{dts|26 Jun 1988|format=md}}	000000001988-06-26-0000	000000001988-06-26-00006月26日
		{{dts|2002-05-27|format=md}}	000000002002-05-27-0000	000000002002-05-27-00005月27日
my	displays only the month and year in month-year format	{{dts|16 November 1488|format=my}}	000000001488-11-16-0000	000000001488-11-16-00001488年11月
d	displays only the day	{{dts|6 July 1666|format=d}}	000000001666-07-06-0000	000000001666-07-06-00006日
m	displays only the month	{{dts|1980-02-12|format=m}}	000000001980-02-12-0000	000000001980-02-12-00002月
y	displays only the year	{{dts|-26|Jan|18|format=y}}	-999999999974-01-18-0000	-999999999974-01-18-0000紀元前26年
hide	hides the date	{{dts|15 October 1800|format=hide}}	000000001800-10-15-0000	000000001800-10-15-0000
ymd	displays the date in year-month-day format for Japanese	{{dts|August 31, 1901|format=ymd}}	000000001901-08-31-0000	000000001901-08-31-00001901年8月31日
		{{dts|2006-11-08|format=ymd}}	000000002006-11-08-0000	000000002006-11-08-00002006年11月8日
		{{dts|1888|5|8|format=ymd}}	000000001888-05-08-0000	000000001888-05-08-00001888年5月8日
		{{dts|-56|08|09|format=ymd}}	-999999999944-08-09-0000	-999999999944-08-09-0000紀元前56年8月9日

Abbreviation

There are two ways of abbreviating the month name.

1. Directly input an abbreviated month name.
2. Use the abbr=on parameter.

Examples

abbreviation method	input code	hidden sort key	visible output
none	{{dts|2000-01-01}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000年1月1日
	{{dts|2000|1|1}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000年1月1日
	{{dts|1 January 2000}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000年1月1日
	{{dts|2000|January|1}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000年1月1日
abbreviated input	{{dts|1 Jan 2000}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000年1月1日
	{{dts|2000|Jan|1}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000年1月1日
abbr=on	{{dts|1 January 2000|abbr=on}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000/1/1
	{{dts|2000|January|1|abbr=on}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000/1/1
	{{dts|2000-01-01|abbr=on}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000/1/1
	{{dts|2000|1|1|abbr=on}}	000000002000-01-01-0000	000000002000-01-01-00002000/1/1

Additional sort key

In case two dates in a table are identical they may be ordered using the addkey parameter.

Examples

input code	hidden sort key	visible output
{{dts|2010-10-10|addkey=3}}	000000002010-10-10-0003	000000002010-10-10-00032010年10月10日
{{dts|2010-10-09}}	000000002010-10-09-0000	000000002010-10-09-00002010年10月9日
{{dts|2010-10-10|addkey=1}}	000000002010-10-10-0001	000000002010-10-10-00012010年10月10日
{{dts|2010-10-10}}	000000002010-10-10-0000	000000002010-10-10-00002010年10月10日
{{dts|2010-10-10|addkey=4}}	000000002010-10-10-0004	000000002010-10-10-00042010年10月10日
{{dts|2010-10-11}}	000000002010-10-11-0000	000000002010-10-11-00002010年10月11日
{{dts|2010-10-10|addkey=2}}	000000002010-10-10-0002	000000002010-10-10-00022010年10月10日

Wrapping

To turn off the suppression of word wraps, use the nowrap=off parameter.

Notes

Sorting for incomplete dates

Whole months or years

A whole year or month (and year) is sorted according to its first day.

Missing years

If the year is not specified, the date will be sorted as if the year were the current year.

Error handling

Entering an invalid date format will (generally) produce an error message such as the one below.

Calendar choice

The template is not capable of distinguishing Julian and Gregorian calendar dates. Also, it is not capable of taking a date in one calendar as input and outputting a date in the other calendar. Thus, to insure proper sorting, editors must either use one calendar for all dates, or pick a specific changeover date (for example, deciding that 4 October 1582 is Julian and all later dates are Gregorian); this would be done on an article-by article basis. Editors are also responsible for explaining to the reader whether the visible dates are Julian or Gregorian, if there is any possibility of confusion.

Linking

The template formerly linked dates automatically. To turn linking off the parameter link=off was used. In accordance with current guidelines linking is no longer supported. Please do not use this parameter. Please remove it from existing transclusions.

See also

• {{TBA}}, allows quarters, and allows sorting of time periods by end date.
• m:Template:dts (リンク元、編集), since on Meta e.g. 09999 9999 induces numeric sort mode, "&" is prefixed to force string sort mode.
• {{sort}}, sorting by a specified key (also good for complicated numbers, e.g. scientific notation)
• {{sortname}}, full name sorting (using "last name, first name" as default sort key)
• {{tts}}, for sorting times in result tables of athletic events (only needed in certain cases - see template documentation)
• {{mss}}, for sorting times in tables of eclipses
• {{Number table sorting}}, for numbers