The descriptions below affect only output date formats from the support functions. However the value of the SF_TIME_FORMAT variable also affects the value of the TIME_C variable.
The time format assigned to control variable SF_TIME_FORMAT may consist of combinations of the following elements separated by either punctuation or other characters. Letters may be in upper or lower case:
Hour Elements:
| h | One- or two- digit hour value |
| hh | Two-digit hour value with leading zero if needed |
| am/pm | Uses the 12-hour clock for the h or hh specifier and displays either am or pm |
| a/p | Uses the 12-hour clock for the h or hh specifier and displays either a or p |
| ampm | Uses the 12-hour clock for the h or hh specifier and displays the appropriate am or pm string for the current locale |
Minute Elements:
| n | One- or two- digit minute value |
| nn | Two-digit minute value with leading zero if needed |
Seconds Element:
| ss | Two-digit seconds value, with leading zero if needed |
Complete Time:
| t | The date format given by the 'short date format' for the current locale. |
| tt | The date format given by the 'long date format' for the current locale. |
If the time format is invalid or empty, the Windows 'short time format' will be used. If you supply an invalid format, the SF_TIME_FORMAT variable will be set to an empty value instead of the incorrect format you assigned.
 | For the purposes of Application Support DLL output, the SF_TIME_FORMAT variable is always interpreted in the current system locale. However the same variable is interpreted in for use by the TIME_C variable in the override locale set by CF_DATELOCALE. |
