Setting Date as a prop in Adobe DTM - tags

Question

I'm trying to use Adobe DTM to pass the date to a prop variable but haven't had much success. The final output should be a prop report in Adobe that'll provide me traffic data for specific dates (5/11/16, 6/15/15 etc). The ultimate goal for setting the dates as a prop is to be able to classify a range of dates based on various business needs.
Could anyone point me in the right direction for getting this done? I am assuming I'll have to add a line of code in the s.code file that'll define s.prop5 = ...
Thanks

Answer 1

Based on your comments, it sounds like you are just looking to pop something with the current date stamp with "MM-DD-YYYY" format.
As Gigazelle mentioned, you can create a Data Element to return the value, and then reference it for setting your prop. However, throwing a data layer into the mix may be overkill for you, depending on your needs/limitations.
Data layers are meant for exposing data that DTM can't feasibly/reliably automate on its own via built-in features or hosting an autonomous js snippet.
The only reason you might want to consider having your site push it to a data layer, is if you want to generate the date via server-side coding to ensure the date is generated within the same timezone setting for all visitors. If you generate it client-side, it will be generated according to the visitor's browser/system settings. Since visitors are from all over the world in different timezones, the data may not be as consistent (even if you add additional code to change the timezone offset, it still may not be 100% based on browser version/security settings, or visitors who alter their browser/system date/timezone settings).
So, if you want to ensure the best accuracy, then I suggest you output the value via server-side code, and put into a data layer. How you do that depends on your server and what language you have at your disposal for your web pages being served up. Here is a very basic example using PHP:
<script>
var dataLayer = {
currentDate : '<?php echo date('m-d-Y'); ?>'
}
</script>
This will have the server generate the date stamp and output a js object called dataLayer with a property currentDate you can reference. You can create a Data Element as Type "JS Object" and for Path, put dataLayer.currentDate, and then reference your Data Element elsewhere (see below).
If that's too much trouble for you or if you want to keep it pure client-side/DTM and are okay with the potentially lower consistency...
Within DTM, go to Rules > Data Elements, and click Create New Data Element.
Name it "currentDate" (no quotes).
For Type, choose "Custom Script", and click Open Editor, and add the following:
var t=new Date(),d,m,y;
d=t.getDate();
d=d<10?'0'+d:d;
m=t.getMonth()+1;
m=m<10?'0'+m:m;
y=t.getFullYear();
return m+'-'+d+'-'+y;
Click Save and Close and Save Data Element.
Now you can reference the data element to pop prop5. How you do it depends on how you've setup Adobe Analytics within DTM. For example, if you set it up as a tool and only want it to pop on initial page view, you can open your AA tool config, go to the Global Variables dropdown, and set prop5 there. You reference it as %currentDate%
You can do the same %currentDate% syntax in a Page Load Rule or other rule or any other place that uses DTM's built-in fields.
Alternatively, if you need to reference it within javascript code (e.g. if you are setting prop5 within s.doPlugins or some other Custom Script box, you can reference the data element like this:
s.prop5 = _satellite.getVar('currentDate');

Answer 2

Set a JS variable on your site (such as within a data layer) that outputs the date in the format you wish to collect it in. Something like var d = Date();
In DTM, go to Rules > Data Elements and create a data element that maps to the JS variable you created on your site
If you want prop5 to be defined on every page, click the gear icon and map prop5 to your data element name by using %DataElementName% (whatever you named your data element in step 2, wrapped in percent signs). If you don't want it defined on every page, go to Rules and create a page load rule, event based rule or direct call rule depending on when you want the variable to trigger. Under the Adobe Analytics section of the rule, map prop5 to %DataElementName% .
This will allow you to collect dates as values, which can then be used in classifications.