create-a-date-attribute-master-data-services.md

title	Create a Date Attribute
description	Create a Date Attribute (Master Data Services)
author	meetdeepak
ms.author	dkhare
ms.reviewer	mikeray
ms.date	03/05/2026
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	master-data-services
ms.topic	how-to
ms.custom	build-2025
helpviewer_keywords	creating date attributes [Master Data Services] attributes [Master Data Services], creating date attributes

Create a Date Attribute (Master Data Services)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server - Windows only ASDBMI]

[!INCLUDE support-notice]

In [!INCLUDEssMDSshort], create a date attribute when you want users to enter a date as an attribute value.

Note

The attribute is called DateTime, but time values are not supported.

Prerequisites

To perform this procedure:

• You must have permission to access the System Administration functional area.

• You must be a model administrator. For more information, see Administrators (Master Data Services).

• You must have an entity to create the attribute for. For more information, see Create an Entity (Master Data Services).

To create a date attribute

1. In [!INCLUDEssMDSmdm], click System Administration.

2. On the Manage Model page, select a model from the grid and then click Entities.

3. On the Manage Entity page, select the row for the entity that you want to create an attribute for.

4. Click Attributes.

5. On the Manage Attributes page, do one of the following and then click Add.

   • If the attribute is for leaf members, select Leaf from the Member Types list box.

   • If the attribute is for consolidated members, select Consolidated from the Member Types list box.

   • If the attribute is for collections, select Collection from the Member Types list box.

6. In the Name box, type a name for the attribute. For a list of words that should not be used as attribute names, see Reserved Words (Master Data Services).

7. Optionally, type a display name, and type a description for the attribute in the Description box.

8. In the Display pixel width box, type the width of the attribute column to be displayed in the Explorer grid.

9. From the Attribute type list, select Free-form.

10. From the Data type list, select DateTime.

11. From the Input mask list, select a format for dates.

12. Optionally, select Enable change tracking to track changes to groups of attributes. For more information, see Add Attributes to a Change Tracking Group (Master Data Services).

13. Click Save.

To display the time portion of a datetime value

To have the user interface display the time portion of a datetime value, you must select an appropriate input mask for the attribute. None of the built-in masks for Datetime attributes do this, but you can add a new mask that will allow you to display time. To do so, add a row in the mdm.tblList table of the MDS database, where the built-in masks are stored. The row should have the following values:

Column	Value
ListCode	lstInputMask
ListName	Input Mask
Seq	19
List Option	dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt
Option ID	19
IsVisible	1
Group_ID	3

After you enter a row with the above values in the mdm.tblList table, the "dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm:ss tt" mask will be available in the Input mask list box. You can then select that mask to display the date and time in a datetime attribute column of an entity in the MDS Explorer.

The Input Mask is a custom .NET DateTime format string. For more information, see Custom Date and Time Format Strings

See Also

Attributes (Master Data Services)
Change an Attribute Name and Data Type (Master Data Services)
Create a Domain-Based Attribute (Master Data Services)
Create a File Attribute (Master Data Services)