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Level 1

78 points

Looking for date-time default formats OS X 10.8 & earlier

I use Quicken for Mac 2007 (Intel) on my iMac and works well. But, on my Mac Mini it shows dates in US (M/DY) format instead of the system default D/M/Y.

Both my iMac and Mac Mini are running OS X 10.10.4. However, the iMac first ran OS X 10.6 and has been incrementally upgraded since while the Mac Mini started with OS X 10.9.

There must be something different about my two Macs which explains why Quicken gets date formats right on one but not the other.

Could there be an old plist file somewhere ?

OS X has default date-time formats according to locale. So, if region is set to US, dates are in M/D/Y format by default. If set to Australia, they default to D/M/Y format.

I have looked at all the preferences files but, I can't find where those defaults are stored. I have checked all the files in Library/Preferences and in Home/Library/Preferences. I have especially checked the hidden file ".GlobalPreferences.plist" in both folders. I've found that customised date-time formats are stored in Home/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist - suggesting that customisations are on a per user basis. But, both Macs are set to the defaults.

But, if there are no customisations, date-time formats don't seem to be stored anywhere. So, where would applications look to find them ?

I believe that something in date-time handling changed with OS X 10.9. So, I need to know how applications used to find default date-time formats in OS X 10.8 and earlier. Does anyone know ?

Thanks.

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), mid-2011, Core i7, 2.7Ghz, 8Gb

Posted on Aug 4, 2015 9:44 PM

22 replies

Garry Brooke Author

Level 1

78 points

Aug 26, 2015 10:39 PM in response to Garry Brooke

Have just applied the fix to my OS X 10.11 test partition. It works. If this pans out, it will answer a question a lot of people have been asking for years.

It will also mean that Q2007 can live for at least another year.

Aug 26, 2015 11:59 PM in response to Garry Brooke

🙂

...like I said, there's good news, (and possibly, better news)!

My target was dd/mm/yyyy, and I got that. Bet you're getting d/m/yy, i.e., without the leading zeros?

A little more patience...

You may know that at their August earnings call, Intuit announced divestment of Quicken.

Garry Brooke Author

Level 1

78 points

Aug 27, 2015 3:36 PM in response to Dipe Chatterjee

Dipe, sorry, I've not understood your problem properly.

For me all dates are showing correctly without leading zeros. So, I've got 23/1/15, 2/12/14, 3/4/15 etc. being displayed in the date field of all registers and reports. But I only need YY, not YYYY. I'll do some testing and get back later today.

The related issue of dates showing in US format instead of local is just about solved. I have one more test to do before I can say the bug is licked.

Yes, I saw the sale announcement. Doesn't change Q2007 much - Intuit have ceased selling it online. Buyers have to ring them ! And, no price is mentioned.

Cheers.

Garry Brooke Author

Level 1

78 points

Aug 27, 2015 7:05 PM in response to Garry Brooke

OK, I think I have a reliable fix for the Quicken date format issue - where dates are shown in US format (MM/DD/YY) despite user preferences for other layouts (e.g. DD/MM/YY).

As Dipe advised the fix involves /User Home/Library/Preferences/com.apple.HIToolbox.plist. The fix for me was:

Does that file exist ? It probably will not. If it does, it probably needs the entries specified in step 3 added.
Copy the same file from /Library/Preferences/ to /User Home/Library/Preferences/.
That will probably not be enough. The file needs to contain these entries:

AppleDateResID Dictionary

smRoman Number N

AppleTimeResID Dictionary

smRoman Number N

"N" is a number which needs to match your locale. I'm in Australia and my number was 15. So far, I've not been able to find a table which lists those numbers by country. People will need to experiment. So far, I've found hints that for Sweden, the number is 7.

Please note: This change might have an effect on other software. Also, a change to Date/Time settings in System Preferences might have unexpected effects.

This doesn't answer Dipe's need for DD/MM/YYYY (i.e. 4 year digits) but, it's a start.

Cheers.

Garry

Garry Brooke Author

Level 1

78 points

Aug 27, 2015 9:13 PM in response to Garry Brooke

Forgot to explain that after adding the entries to the plist file and saving, it is necessary to restart. Also, to add the entries to the plist file, you will need an editor. Some free editors:

http://www.nightproductions.net/prefsetter.html
http://www.tempel.org/PrefsEditor -- NB: Uses CFPreferences API and so does not require a restart for changes to take effect.
"Property List Editor" is reportedly also available in the Apple Developers package (not confirmed).

Cheers.

Aug 27, 2015 10:45 PM in response to Garry Brooke

Good work Gary, that's the most constructive work I've seen on the date format issue. Truly.

Absolutes are preferred for each data parameter; for instance, if you export a Report to Excel while set in d/m/yy, you'll have to individually explain the century for each yy. No such issues with yyyy. Also, if you mail such an Excel report to someone whose date formats aren't set properly (I've noticed most people don't bother to change from the default m/d/yy), dates in d/m formats can becoming very confusing. That's why dd/mm/yyyy, as an absolute reference, is a better option.

Though my problem is resolved, I'm persisting with the issue. Now the goal is to get the solution to all Quicken users. The timeline is uncertain, as it is not dependent on me alone. Hopefully soon.

Do continue your approach, and I'll pitch in with whatever tips I can offer.

Aug 31, 2015 10:51 AM in response to Dipe Chatterjee

At last, I have permission to reveal the happenings that led to the resolution.

See here.

Looking for date-time default formats OS X 10.8 & earlier