Date reference functions
Purpose
Business reports are prepared once a month, once a quarter or once a year. Analysts often compare business results against previous periods. First and last days of a given period are of special significance for reporting.
The dref_ prefix stands for date reference functions. The functions with the dref_ prefix return a reference date to the chosen date.
Functions
The functions work within three types of periods:
- a month
- a quarter
- an year
The functions return one of the four types of reference dates:
- the first day
- the first working day
- the last day
- the last working day
The names of functions combine the dref_ prefix and the first letters of the chosen reference date.
For example, dref_fdoy() returns the first day of an year.
The table summarizes all date reference functions.
| of month | of quarter | of year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| first day | dref_fdom() |
dref_fdoq() |
dref_fdoy() |
| first working day | dref_fwdom() |
dref_fwdoq() |
dref_fwdoy() |
| last day | dref_ldom() |
dref_ldoq() |
dref_ldoy() |
| last working day | dref_lwdom() |
dref_lwdoq() |
dref_lwdoy() |
All functions take the argument date, which is the base date. The functions return the result in reference to the base date. The functions always work within a specific period: a month, a quarter or an year.
Monthly periods
The reference dates in the image below can be retrieved with the following functions:
dref_fdom()- dark bluedref_fwdom()- light bluedref_ldom()- light greendref_lwdom()- dark green
The base date has been marked with orange.
Quarterly periods
The reference dates in the image below can be retrieved with the following functions:
dref_fdoq()- dark bluedref_fwdoq()- light bluedref_ldoq()- light greendref_lwdoq()- dark green
The base date has been marked with orange.
Watch out! The first day of a year is the same as the first working day of a year. The last day of a year is the same as the last working day of a year. Hence, the same day is marked with two colors (darker and lighter).
Yearly periods
The reference dates in the image below can be retrieved with the following functions:
dref_fdoy()- dark bluedref_fwdoy()- light bluedref_ldoy()- light greendref_lwdoy()- dark green
The base date has been marked with orange.
Watch out! The first day of a year is the same as the first working day of a year. The last day of a year is the same as the last working day of a year. Hence, the same day is marked with two colors (darker and lighter).
