Dates and times in a table
Show a date-time column as its date, its time or both, on a 12-hour or 24-hour clock, and put the same date in a detail table twice.
A detail table can show a date-time column the way your readers expect: only the date, only the time, or both, on a 12-hour (12:20 PM) or 24-hour (12:20) clock. Put the same field in the table twice to show an inspection's day in one column and its time in the next.
Show the date, the time or both
In the card editor, open the ··· menu on a date-time field in a detail table's Columns. Under Show, pick:
| Show | You see |
|---|---|
| Date | Nov 08, 2026 |
| Time | 12:20 PM |
| Date and time | Nov 08, 2026 12:20 PM |
Then choose how each part looks:
- Date format: Jan 15, 2024 · January 15, 2024 · 01/15/2024 · 15/01/2024 · 01-15-2024 · 2024-01-15 · 15 Jan 2024. With Date and time, Automatic shows both in your readers' own date and time style.
- Clock: 12-hour (12:20 PM) or 24-hour (12:20).
- Show seconds: adds the seconds (12:20:45 PM).
A field that holds only dates (no time of day) shows the date formats only.
Fields that carry a time of day show a calendar-and-clock icon in the field list and on the shelf; date-only fields show a calendar.
Use a date twice
Drag the same field into a detail table's Columns again. Each copy has its own label and its own format, so one column can read Inspected on (the date) and the next Inspected at (the time). Downloads keep both columns.
Other shelves, such as Rows on a table or chart, still hold a field once.
Type your own pattern
Choose Custom pattern… to type a pattern. Uppercase letters (YYYY MMMM MMM MM DD HH mm ss) work on every database. Lowercase letters (yyyy dd d h hh a, mixed with MMM MM HH mm ss) also give 12-hour times and unpadded days, on PostgreSQL, Snowflake and ClickHouse only:
| Part | Letters |
|---|---|
| Year | YYYY YY, or yyyy yy |
| Month | MMMM (January) MMM (Jan) MM (01) |
| Day | DD or dd (05), d (5) |
| Hour, 24-hour | HH (14) H |
| Hour, 12-hour | hh (02) h (2) |
| Minutes, seconds | mm ss |
| AM or PM | a |
For example, MMM d, yyyy h:mm a shows Jan 5, 2024 2:30 PM.
Where 12-hour times and lowercase patterns work
On PostgreSQL, Snowflake and ClickHouse, a detail table's dates are drawn in the browser, and every option above works. On other databases the database formats the dates, so the 12-hour clock and patterns in lowercase letters aren't offered yet; use the 24-hour clock and uppercase letters there.
In Excel downloads
CSV and PDF downloads show each column as it looks on the dashboard. Excel downloads keep dates as real dates you can sort and filter, in Excel's own date-and-time format.
With an agent
An agent sets the same formats through the MCP's column settings (see Card appearance): a date format with a pattern in uppercase letters, or with dialect: "date_fns" for lowercase patterns such as h:mm a. A lowercase pattern on a database that formats its own dates is refused with the reason.