Naming "timestamps"

I want to use the Now() function, which returns both the current date and
time.

I need some sage advice on what to name the database field I store this
value in. I could call it DateCreated, but it's more than just a "date",
since it includes hour/min/sec etc., too.

I could call it TimestampCreated, but it's more than just a time-stamp--it
also has "date" in it!

What's the Best Practice on naming such fields so that the names are not
(too) misleading?

Thanks!

Gary

In article ,
says...
I want to use the Now() function, which returns both the current date and
time.

I need some sage advice on what to name the database field I store this
value in. I could call it DateCreated, but it's more than just a "date",
since it includes hour/min/sec etc., too.

I could call it TimestampCreated, but it's more than just a time-stamp--it
also has "date" in it!

What's the Best Practice on naming such fields so that the names are not
(too) misleading?

Thanks!

Gary




We call it CreateTS in our shop. I think "timestamp" can imply a date
too. Doesn't really matter as long as you're consistent.

--
Armen Stein
Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...jstreettech-20
J Street Technology, Inc.
Armen _@_ JStreetTech _._ com

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:42:02 -0700, "Gary Schuldt"
wrote:

I want to use the Now() function, which returns both the current date and
time.

I need some sage advice on what to name the database field I store this
value in. I could call it DateCreated, but it's more than just a "date",
since it includes hour/min/sec etc., too.

I could call it TimestampCreated, but it's more than just a time-stamp--it
also has "date" in it!

What's the Best Practice on naming such fields so that the names are not
(too) misleading?

I usually just call such fields Timestamp or TimestampCreated, and
document it. De gustibus non disputandnum est however.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
Join the online Access Chats
Tuesday 11am EDT - Thursday 3:30pm EDT
http://community.compuserve.com/msdevapps

Thanks, Armen.

That fits with my conventions of putting the "class word" (e.g., date,
time, percent, description) at the end--in this case "TS"--and the
modifier--Created or Modified--preceding it. So there could be a CreatedTS
and a ModifiedTS, both set using Now() in the appropriate contexts.

Gary

"Armen Stein" m wrote in
message ...
In article ,
says...
I want to use the Now() function, which returns both the current date
and
time.

I need some sage advice on what to name the database field I store this
value in. I could call it DateCreated, but it's more than just a
"date",
since it includes hour/min/sec etc., too.

I could call it TimestampCreated, but it's more than just a
time-stamp--it
also has "date" in it!

What's the Best Practice on naming such fields so that the names are not
(too) misleading?

Thanks!

Gary




We call it CreateTS in our shop. I think "timestamp" can imply a date
too. Doesn't really matter as long as you're consistent.

--
Armen Stein
Access 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...jstreettech-20
J Street Technology, Inc.
Armen _@_ JStreetTech _._ com

Thanks, John.

Yes, I agree with "De gustibus . . . " when it's purely arbitrary; I just
wanted to poll the experts, since lotsa times I have to defend my
programming decisions.

It seems in this case that the most defensible choice would be DateTime to
characterize the type of value Now returns. So I think my names are going
to be CreatedDateTime and ModifiedDateTime. If I'm just interested in the
date, I can use the DateValue function on the result.

Gary

"John Vinson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 19:42:02 -0700, "Gary Schuldt"
wrote:

I want to use the Now() function, which returns both the current date and
time.

I need some sage advice on what to name the database field I store this
value in. I could call it DateCreated, but it's more than just a "date",
since it includes hour/min/sec etc., too.

I could call it TimestampCreated, but it's more than just a
time-stamp--it
also has "date" in it!

What's the Best Practice on naming such fields so that the names are not
(too) misleading?

I usually just call such fields Timestamp or TimestampCreated, and
document it. De gustibus non disputandnum est however.

John W. Vinson[MVP]
Join the online Access Chats
Tuesday 11am EDT - Thursday 3:30pm EDT
http://community.compuserve.com/msdevapps

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 10:43:52 -0700, "Gary Schuldt"
wrote:

It seems in this case that the most defensible choice would be DateTime to
characterize the type of value Now returns. So I think my names are going
to be CreatedDateTime and ModifiedDateTime. If I'm just interested in the
date, I can use the DateValue function on the result.

Sounds good to me!

John W. Vinson[MVP]
Join the online Access Chats
Tuesday 11am EDT - Thursday 3:30pm EDT
http://community.compuserve.com/msdevapps

John Vinson wrote in ...

I usually just call such fields Timestamp or TimestampCreated

It seems in this case that the most defensible choice would be DateTime to
characterize the type of value Now returns. So I think my names are going
to be CreatedDateTime and ModifiedDateTime.

Sounds good to me!


I try to avoid reserved words. TIMESTAMP is an ODBC reserved word and
a SQL Server 'future' reserved word.

I also try to avoid using data types in column names. DATETIME is a
native Jet data type (and reserved word!) I think it would be fairly
intuitive in context that columns named 'Created' and 'Modified' were
of type DATETIME.

Jamie.

--

I guess we could extend Jamie's idea to WhenCreated, WhenModified; I'm also
keeping track of ModifiedBy username. The more intuitive / less
misleading the name, in my book, the better programming, easier maintenance.

Gary

"Jamie Collins" wrote in message
om...
John Vinson wrote in ...

I usually just call such fields Timestamp or TimestampCreated

It seems in this case that the most defensible choice would be
DateTime to
characterize the type of value Now returns. So I think my names are
going
to be CreatedDateTime and ModifiedDateTime.

Sounds good to me!


I try to avoid reserved words. TIMESTAMP is an ODBC reserved word and
a SQL Server 'future' reserved word.

I also try to avoid using data types in column names. DATETIME is a
native Jet data type (and reserved word!) I think it would be fairly
intuitive in context that columns named 'Created' and 'Modified' were
of type DATETIME.

Jamie.

--