XSLT Reference

format-date()

XSLT 2.0 date function

Formats an xs:date value into a human-readable string using a picture pattern, with optional locale and calendar support.

Syntax

format-date(date, picture, language?, calendar?, place?)

Description

format-date() converts an xs:date value into a formatted string according to a picture pattern. It is the standard way in XSLT 2.0+ to produce locale-aware, human-readable date output from typed date values.

The picture string uses component specifiers enclosed in square brackets:

Specifier	Meaning
`[Y]`	Year (4 digits by default)
`[M]`	Month as a number
`[MNn]`	Month name (e.g., “April”)
`[D]`	Day of the month
`[d]`	Day of the year
`[F]`	Day of the week name (e.g., “Monday”)
`[FNn]`	Day of week, title case
`[W]`	Week of the year

Width modifiers control zero-padding: [D01] formats day as two digits (01, 15). The [MNn] modifier requests the name in title case; [MN] gives uppercase.

Related functions cover time and combined date-time values:

format-time(time, picture, ...) for xs:time values.
format-dateTime(dateTime, picture, ...) for xs:dateTime values.

To get today’s date for formatting, use current-date().

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`date`	xs:date?	Yes	The date value to format. If an empty sequence, an empty string is returned.
`picture`	xs:string	Yes	The picture pattern controlling the output format.
`language`	xs:string?	No	BCP 47 language tag controlling names (e.g., `"en"`, `"fr"`, `"de"`).
`calendar`	xs:string?	No	Calendar system identifier (e.g., `"AD"`, `"ISO"`). Implementation-defined.
`place`	xs:string?	No	Place or timezone identifier. Implementation-defined.

Return value

xs:string — the formatted date string, or an empty string if date is an empty sequence.

Examples

Format a date attribute

Input XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<events>
  <event date="2026-04-18">XSLT Conference</event>
  <event date="2026-12-25">Holiday</event>
</events>

Stylesheet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
  xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
  xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/events">
    <events>
      <xsl:for-each select="event">
        <event>
          <date><xsl:value-of select="format-date(xs:date(@date), '[FNn], [D] [MNn] [Y]')"/></date>
          <name><xsl:value-of select="."/></name>
        </event>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </events>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output:

<events>
  <event>
    <date>Saturday, 18 April 2026</date>
    <name>XSLT Conference</name>
  </event>
  <event>
    <date>Friday, 25 December 2026</date>
    <name>Holiday</name>
  </event>
</events>

Today’s date formatted

Stylesheet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="text"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <xsl:value-of select="format-date(current-date(), '[D01]/[M01]/[Y]')"/>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output (example):

18/04/2026

French locale month name

<xsl:value-of select="format-date(xs:date(@date), '[D] [MNn] [Y]', 'fr', (), ())"/>
<!-- Output example: 18 avril 2026 -->

Notes

The input must be an xs:date (not a string). Cast string date values with xs:date(@date) before calling format-date().
Picture patterns are not the same as Java SimpleDateFormat or strftime. Refer to the XPath/XSLT 2.0 specification for the full picture syntax.
Language support depends on the XSLT processor. Saxon supports common European languages; less common locales may fall back to English.
For xs:dateTime values, use format-dateTime() which additionally supports time component specifiers like [H] (hour), [m] (minute), [s] (second).
current-date() returns the processor’s current date as xs:date; pair it with format-date() to embed a build timestamp in the output.