How To Change the Short Date Format from Visual Basic

Step-by-Step Example

1. In a new or existing project, add a form (Form1).
2. Add a CommandButton (Command1) to the form.
3. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:

             Option Explicit
   
         Private Const LOCALE_SSHORTDATE = &H1F
         Private Const WM_SETTINGCHANGE = &H1A
         'same as the old WM_WININICHANGE
         Private Const HWND_BROADCAST = &HFFFF&
   
         Private Declare Function SetLocaleInfo Lib "kernel32" Alias _
             "SetLocaleInfoA" (ByVal Locale As Long, ByVal LCType As _
             Long, ByVal lpLCData As String) As Boolean
         Private Declare Function PostMessage Lib "user32" Alias _
             "PostMessageA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, _
             ByVal wParam As Long, ByVal lParam As Long) As Long
         Private Declare Function GetSystemDefaultLCID Lib "kernel32" _
             () As Long
   						

4. Place the following code in Command1_Click event procedure:

         P  Private Sub Command1_Click()
            Dim dwLCID As Long
            dwLCID = GetSystemDefaultLCID()
            If SetLocaleInfo(dwLCID, LOCALE_SSHORTDATE, "dd-MMM-yy") _
               = False Then
               MsgBox "Failed"
               Exit Sub
            End If
            PostMessage HWND_BROADCAST, WM_SETTINGCHANGE, 0, 0
         End Sub
   						

5. Run the program and open the form. Click on Command1 and then exit the program.
6. Go to Control Panel and double-click on the Regional Settings icon. Select the Date tab. Note that the Short date style has been changed to "dd-MMM-yy."

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