function result($currentdate, $operation, $number, $type)
 {
     // create date object with timestamp from the 'currentdate' form element
     $date = new YDDate();
     $date->set(intval($currentdate));
     // if operation is 1 we want subtract the number
     if ($operation == 1) {
         $number = -intval($number);
     } else {
         $number = intval($number);
     }
     // add number to date
     switch (intval($type)) {
         case 0:
             $date->addMinute($number);
             break;
         case 1:
             $date->addDay($number);
             break;
         case 2:
             $date->addMonth($number);
             break;
         default:
             $date->addYear($number);
     }
     // assign span with date
     $this->ajax->addResult('myspanresult', YDStringUtil::formatDate($date->getTimestamp(), 'datetime'));
     // return response to client browser
     return $this->ajax->processResults();
 }