>what is the simplest way to express
>if date() after December 15 2016
>do this
>endif
>
>tnx
>Karen

You could compare against a date constant of the format {^yyyy.mm.dd} (note the use of the caret symbol -- specifies yyyy.mm.dd format rather than format that would vary by locale or by SET DATE configuration.)

if date() > {^2016.12.15} then
    * some code
endif

alternatively you could use call the DATE() function with the parameters year, month and day value --- DATE(yyyy,mm,dd)

if date() > date(2016.12.15) then
    * some code
endif