Here is quick utility method that can be used to calculate the difference (in days) between two dates:

// returns the number of days between two dates // always returns a positive value C_DATE($1;$start;$2;$end) C_LONGINT($0;$dif) If (Count parameters=2)    $start:=$1    $end:=$2    $dif:=$start-$end // calculate difference    If ($dif<0) // if negative       $dif:=$dif*-1 // make positive    End if    $0:=$dif //return difference End if

If the above is code is stored in your database as UTIL_DaysBetween it can be used like this:

ALERT(String(UTIL_DaysBetween (Current date;!10/23/2012!)))

or:

ALERT(String(UTIL_DaysBetween (!10/23/2012!;Current date)))

The benefit of this method is that in all situations the value of 'days between' will be positive.