I don't know if this has any bearing, but here is an excerpt from a
post by Winfried Huslik from 2005 on the Dartmouth list:

"If the field is a date field, there is no need (nor a possibility) to
convert anything at all.

A date can be shown in any desired format that is defined in layout mode.
If there is no special format defined, the default format is used
(which is the system's format at the time the file was created or
cloned).

If - for example - you want to use a US developed solution in the UK,
change your systems settings (date, time, number, currency) to the
settings of the UK and make clones of the files. From now on the
default is the UK format."

If I'm understanding him right, you may need to clone the file in
order for the changed format to "stick" and be recognized.

James
www.james-mc.com
Words To Live By



On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 3:05 PM, Bruce Button <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Tim
>
> Thanks for your suggestion. I did change the system format before using a
> format like 4/14/2011.
>
> I did try rebuilding the index but that also doesn't help.
>
> I must say I am puzzled. The documented search formats are very handy, but I
> can't get them to work!
>
> Bruce
>
>
> On 13/5/2011 11:04 AM, Tim Mansour wrote:
>
> On 13 May 2011 16:47, Bruce Button <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> but if I enter anything with a greater than or less than operator (like
> <4/14/2011) FMP tells me that the find criteria are invalid.
>
> Bruce you mentioned that your system format is d/m/y; if that is the
> format for the FM file then it's true that "4/14/2011" is not a valid
> criterion.
>
> Other than that: have you tried rebuilding the index of the field
> you're searching?
>
>