Documentation

DatePrism user guide

This guide fully reproduces the help sections built into the application.

◬ Why DatePrism?

CELEBRATING WHAT CONNECTS US!

DatePrism's primary goal is to create new occasions, to find new dates to celebrate with those close to you: the 1,000th day (or week, or month) since you met, since your child was born, since your appointment, since founding your company or your Masonic lodge...

Every one of us, every organization, every reality begins at a precise moment and then evolves through significant events. This is called history, and it illuminates the present.

Precisely locating these events in time, past or future, remembering them, sharing them and celebrating them! This is called culture, and it illuminates our relationships.

That is why DatePrism is also a precise conversion tool between the Gregorian calendar and the main Masonic calendars: French Rite, Scottish Rite, Royal Arch and Knights Templar. Because Light also passes through the prism of time...

You will thus be able to celebrate the anniversaries of your initiation, your Worshipful Master, or your Lodge, in the very calendar of your obedience.

The application produces highly precise calculations based on astronomical time (JDN — Julian Day Number system) and follows the historical convention of having no year 0, while also adding dates in ISO 8601 format whenever an entered or calculated year is less than or equal to 0.

◬ How to use it

DatePrism converts a date between the Gregorian calendar and the main Masonic calendars (French Rite, Scottish Rite, Royal Arch, Knights Templar), calculates the days, weeks and months elapsed since the start of each calendar, and can calculate then convert a shifted (anniversary) date by N days, N weeks, N months or N years relative to the given date.

By entering a second date (Date 2), DatePrism instead calculates the exact gap between the two, in days, weeks, months, and in full years/months/weeks/days form.

The calculations, based on astronomical time using the JDN (Julian Day Number) system, aim to be precise. The historical date format (no year 0) is favored, but the ISO 8601 format is added as soon as an entered or calculated date (Date 1, Date to celebrate or Date 2) is ≤ 0.

They also follow the traditional month numbering and count the number of days, weeks and months elapsed since 01/01/0001 of each rite: March 1st for the French Rite, September 1st for the Scottish Rite.

In the Options menu, choose the language, the date display format (DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD), an optional default starting date (otherwise today's date applies), and the display mode for converted results: Elapsed time (duration since the start of the calendar) or Current time (ordinal position within the calendar).
Select the source calendar, then enter the day, month and year of Date 1 to convert. The window can be scrolled down if it is partly hidden (depending on your screen).
Apply an offset in days, weeks, months or years to calculate an anniversary date (before or after), and select the calendar filters to narrow the displayed results — or enter a Date 2 to calculate the gap with Date 1 instead (the offset and filters are automatically hidden as soon as a Date 2 field is filled in, and reappear once it is empty again).
Click "Calculate".
Copy the results (see the "Copying results" section below).

The five supported calendars

Gregorian Calendar — the reference civil calendar.
French Rite — year "Anno Lucis", starting on March 1st.
Scottish Rite — year "Anno Mundi", starting on September 1st.
Royal Arch — year "Anno Inventionis".
Knights Templar — year "Anno Ordinis".

The results provided are indicative and do not replace a specialized historical reference, where available.

Date formats & the ISO 8601 standard

Note: the historical convention sets the start of each calendar on the 1st day of Year 1 (01/01/01), with no Year 0. Dates ≤ 0 are converted according to the ISO 8601 standard.

As soon as an entered or calculated year (Date 1, Date to celebrate or Date 2) is less than or equal to 0 in one of the displayed calendars, DatePrism automatically adds the corresponding date in ISO 8601 format alongside the historical date.

Options and preferences

Language: French, English, Spanish, German or Italian.
Format: DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD.
Default date: replaces today's date at startup; use "Clear" to go back to today's date.
Display mode: Elapsed time or Current time (ordinal position).

Copying results

On Windows, the "Copy" button directly copies the entire results window to the clipboard.

On Android, tap the "Select" button, select the text you want to copy and choose the action offered by the standard Android menu that appears above your selection, then tap the "Lock" button to return to normal mode.

◬ About

Calculations and conversions of dates to celebrate in the Gregorian and Masonic calendars.