CFLib.org – Common Function Library Project

Description:
isUsefulDate() tests for valid dates, but also tests that the date is within a century of now. Why? Dates outside that range are probably fat-fingered so you have a year of "201" or "20100" instead of "2010". Unless you are a historian or a futurist, you probably don't use dates beyond a hundred years of now; but if you do, feel free to increase the 100-year test in the UDF.

Return Values:
Returns a boolean

Example:

isUsefulDate("blah")=false
isUsefulDate("9/14/201")=false
isUsefulDate("9/14/2010")=true
isUsefulDate("9/14/20100")=false

Parameters:

Full UDF Source:

/**
 * Tests if a date is valid, and within a century of today.
 * version 1.0 by Alan McCollough
 * 
 * @param date      The value to test (Required)
 * @return Returns a boolean 
 * @author Alan McCollough (amccollough@anthc.org) 
 * @version 1, July 25, 2012 
 */
function isUsefulDate(date){
    if(isDate(date)){
        if(abs(dateDiff("yyyy",date,now())) LTE 100)
            return true;
        else
            return false;
        }
    else
        return false;
}