hi Bob,
you can use something like the following
stringvar s:= '20140405';
date(s[1 to 4] + '/' + s[5 to 6] + '/' + s[7 to 8])
and if you want to be safe and use a check, then you can use something this
stringvar s:= '20140405';
s:= s[1 to 4] + '/' + s[5 to 6] + '/' + s[7 to 8];
if isdate(s) then date(s);
-jamie