---
schema_version: "1"
id: b92b853f07d58e87efa565f367332c872fe90ea4bc04150b67b8bf2b3636e890
title: Dates in XMD
collection: developer
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/developer/current/en-us/analytics/bi_dev_guide_xmd/guides/reference/bi-xmd-reference-dates.md
canonical_url: https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/analytics/bi-dev-guide-xmd/guide/bi-xmd-reference-dates.html
source_site: developer.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 904a778257d233fd5cc548ca8d8e918e901ccc2070cf65f7236b67694c744de3
products:
  - Analytics Extended Metadata (XMD) Developer Guide
  - analytics
---

# Dates in XMD

Specify date conventions for Analytics dashboards and lenses.

```nolang
"dates" : [
  {
    "alias" : "Order_Date",
    "label" : "Order Date",
    "firstDayOfWeek" : -1,
    "fiscalMonthOffset":0,
    "fields" : {
      "day" : "Order_Date_Day",
      "epochDay" : "Order_Date_day_epoch",
      "epochSecond" : "Order_Date_sec_epoch",
      "fullField" : "Order_Date",
      "hour" : "Order_Date_Hour",
      "minute" : "Order_Date_Minute",
      "month" : "Order_Date_Month",
      "quarter" : "Order_Date_Quarter",
      "second" : "Order_Date_Second",
      "week" : "Order_Date_Week",
      "year" : "Order_Date_Year"
    }
  },
  {
    "alias" : "Ship_Date",
    "label" : "Ship Date",
    "firstDayOfWeek" : -1,
    "fiscalMonthOffset":0,
    "fields" : {
      "day" : "Ship_Date_Day",
      "epochDay" : "Ship_Date_day_epoch",
      "epochSecond" : "Ship_Date_sec_epoch",
      "fullField" : "Ship_Date",
      "hour" : "Ship_Date_Hour",
      "minute" : "Ship_Date_Minute",
      "month" : "Ship_Date_Month",
      "quarter" : "Ship_Date_Quarter",
      "second" : "Ship_Date_Second",
      "week" : "Ship_Date_Week",
      "year" : "Ship_Date_Year"
    },
    "showInExplorer" : false
  }
],
```

The `dates` section can have the following parameters.

| Parameter         | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| alias             | Identifier (API name) for the dataset field used to generate the date part fields in the dataset. For example, Order_Date generates Order_Date_Month and Order_Date_Minute.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| fields            | Array of the date part fields, like CloseDate*Day, CloseDate_Year, and CloseDate_Hour. Specify all date parts. If `fiscalMonthOffset` is set in the dataflow or XMD file for CSV data, you must also specify fiscal date parts, like CloseDate_Week_Fiscal. To specify a date part, use the format `<date_field_name>*<date_part>`. For example, for the week date part for the CloseDate field, enter`CloseDate_Week`. |
| firstDayOfWeek    | This parameter is deprecated at the dataset level. You can set this property in the [sfdcDigest transformation](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=bi_integrate_salesforce_extract_transformation_operation.htm) for Salesforce data or in the metadata (schema) file for CSV uploads (using the UI or External Data API).                                                                                      |
| fiscalMonthOffset | This parameter is deprecated at the dataset level. You can set this property in the [sfdcDigest transformation](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=bi_integrate_salesforce_extract_transformation_operation.htm) for Salesforce data or in the metadata (schema) file for CSV uploads (using the UI or External Data API).                                                                                      |
| label             | Display name for the dataset field, up to 40 characters. Example: `"label": "Closing Date"`                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| showInExplorer    | (Boolean) Indicates whether the dataset field can be selected from the dashboard designer or explorer when creating dashboards and lenses. Even if `showInExplorer` is `false`, you can still use the field for SAQL queries, manually adding it in JSON, and accessing it using the Analytics REST API. Example: `"showInExplorer": true`                                                                              |

In the dataset XMD file, if the user defines a label for a date field, the label value is used as the alias value for that field when the dataset is generated.

For more information about date parts and the first day of the week, see [Date Handling in Datasets](https://help.salesforce.com/articleView?id=bi_integrate_date_generation.htm).