Date and Time Values in SenseTalk

SenseTalk includes commands and functions for working with dates and times. One date or time can be subtracted from another by using the minus ( - ) operator, to get their difference in seconds. A time interval can also be added to a date or time to obtain a new date/time value (see Adding and Subtracting Time Intervals).

Dates, Times, and Time Intervals

SenseTalk makes no fundamental distinction between a "date" and a "time"—both are treated as precise instants in the flow of time, or points along a timeline whose origin (zero value) was at the stroke of midnight at the beginning of January 1, 2001, Coordinated Universal Time. Any date or time before that instant is treated internally as a negative value, and later times as a positive value indicating the number of seconds since the origin.

SenseTalk can recognize dates and times expressed in a wide variety of formats such as "4/22/67" or "1967-04-22 18:00." See the timeInputFormat global property for details. The Natural format allows even more variations, such as "May 15, 2004 10:57 PM", or even "yesterday", "today", or "next Tuesday in the afternoon." The words today and now (without enclosing quotes) can be used to indicate the current date or the current date and time (unless they are used as variables and assigned some other value). See Natural Format for more information about this format.

Whenever a date value is supplied without a time of day, it is taken to mean noon of that day. When a time is given without a date, it is assumed to mean the indicated time on the current date (today). All dates and times are assumed to be in the local time zone, as currently set on the machine where the script is running.

A time interval or duration is a length of time. When dealing with time intervals, SenseTalk assumes durations measured in seconds if no specific unit is given, but also allows many other units to be used including weeks, days, hours, milliseconds, etc. (see Time Intervals in Values).

In addition to durations that can be precisely measured in seconds, SenseTalk also supports calendar durations measured in months, including months, calendarQuarters, calendarYears, etc. To see the full list of calendarDuration units that are available, use this command:

See Calendar Durations in Values for more information.

Both time intervals and calendar durations can be used with the ago and hence operators to produce a time value that is a length of time in the past or future.

Related Global and Local Properties

SenseTalk includes several global or local properties that you can use to affect the behavior of date and time values in your scripts. You will see these properties mentioned in the descriptions of concepts below. Full definitions of each property can be found on Local and Global Properties for Working with Values. The specific properties are:

• The ClockFormat
• The TimeFormat
• The TimeInputFormat
• The CenturyCutoff
• The LastDayOfMonthCalculation

Date/Time Arithmetic

Adding and Subtracting Time Intervals

Starting from any date (or time), you can obtain a different date/time by simply adding or subtracting a time interval.

Example:

Example:

Calculating Date or Time Differences

By subtracting one date or time value from another, you can easily calculate the number of days between dates or the elapsed time for some process. The difference is always a time interval expressed in seconds, but you can convert it to a different unit (such as days) by dividing it by the number of seconds in that unit (which can be expressed using a time interval expression such as 1 day, for example).

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Date or Time Comparisons

The SenseTalk comparison operators ("is", "=", "comes before", "<", and the like) ordinarily treat the two values being compared as text, unless they are both numbers or it "knows" they are both date or time values. Because comparisons usually treat values as text, the following will not produce the desired result:

To persuade SenseTalk to perform date or time comparisons, use the date() or time() functions to convert the text to an internal date/time representation. This will work (note that when the year isn’t specified, the current year is assumed, so this example will work in any year):

Commands and Functions for Working with Dates and Times

Below are the specific commands and functions you can use to manipulate date and time values in SenseTalk.

Date, AsDate Functions

Behavior: Returns the current date, or the date value for a given expression. The long date function returns a verbose version of the date, including the current day of the week and the full name of the month. Abbreviated date and short date variants provide the date in other formats. The value returned by the date function, when converted to text, will automatically display a formatted date, as shown in the Examples. Its value may also be treated as a number, representing the exact date and time when the function was called, for use in date/time calculations. When dateExpr is given, returns a value representing noon on the given day (if dateExpr includes a time of day, it is ignored).

The asDate function also converts the value given in dateExpr to a date, but instead of assigning it the standard date format, the asDate function will derive the format from the way dateExpr itself is formatted. The asDate function can also be called using the as {a} date operator.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Time Function
• The Seconds Function

UTCOffset (or SecondsFromGMT) Function

Behavior: Returns the difference in seconds between the current local time and Coordinated Universal Time or UTC (the synonymous secondsFromGMT refers to the historical term Greenwich Mean Time or GMT). If called with one parameter which is a date, it returns the local difference from UTC on the given date (which may vary depending on whether or not daylight savings is in effect on that date).

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Seconds Function

Behavior: Returns the current number of seconds since the beginning of January 1, 2001. The long seconds function returns a more precise version of the seconds, including the current fraction of a second. Abbreviated seconds and short seconds variants are also available, which provide values rounded to the microsecond (6 decimal places) and millisecond (3 decimal places), respectively. If a dateTimeValue is given, the number returned will be the number of seconds since the beginning of January 1, 2001, until the given time (a negative number if the given time is earlier than 2001).

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Time Function
• The Ticks Function

Ticks Function

Behavior: Returns the number of ticks (1/60 second) since the SenseTalk engine was started.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Related:

• The Seconds Function

Time, AsTime Functions

Behavior: Returns the current time of day, or the time value of a given expression. The long time function returns a longer version of the time, including the seconds. Abbreviated time and short time variants provide the time in other formats.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Seconds Function

Date or Time Components

The following functions provide individual components of a given date or time. Or, when called without a parameter, each function returns a specific component of the current date or time. For example:

• the hour returns the current hour
• the hour of "8.45 AM" returns the hour component of the given time. In this case, 8.

Year Function

Behavior: Returns the year number of a given date, or the current year.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Month Function
• The MonthName Function
• The Day Function
• The WeekdayName Function
• The DayOfYear Function

Month Function

Behavior: Returns the month number (from 1 to 12) of a given date, or the current month.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The MonthName Function
• The Day Function
• The WeekdayName Function

MonthName Function

Behavior: Returns the month name of a given date, or the current month.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The Month Function
• The Day Function
• The WeekdayName Function

Day Function

Behavior: Returns the day number (from 1 to 31) of a given date, or of the current date.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The Month Function
• The MonthName Function
• The WeekdayName Function
• The DayOfWeek Function
• The DayOfYear Function
• The DayOfCommonEra Function

WeekdayName Function

Behavior: Returns the day name of a given date, or of the current date.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The Month Function
• The MonthName Function
• The DayOfYear Function
• The DayOfCommonEra Function

DayOfWeek Function

Behavior: Returns the weekday number (from 1 to 7) of a given date, or of the current date. The first day of the week, number 1, is determined by your system settings.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The Month Function
• The MonthName Function
• The Day Function
• The DayOfYear Function
• The DayOfCommonEra Function

DayOfYear Function

Behavior: Returns the day number within a year (from 1 to 366) of a given date, or the current date.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The Month Function
• The MonthName Function
• The Day Function
• The DayOfWeek Function
• The WeekdayName Function
• The DayOfCommonEra Function

DayOfCommonEra Function

Behavior: Returns the day number of a given date, or of the current date, since the beginning of the Common Era (January 1 of the year 1). This function can be useful for calculating the number of elapsed days between any two dates.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Year Function
• The Month Function
• The MonthName Function
• The Day Function
• The DayOfWeek Function
• The WeekdayName Function
• The DayOfYear Function

Hour Function

Behavior: Returns the hour number (from 0 to 23) of a given time value, or of the current time.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Time Function
• The Minute Function
• The Second Function
• The Seconds Function

Minute Function

Behavior: Returns the minute number (from 0 to 59) of a given time value, or of the current time.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Time Function
• The Hour Function
• The Second Function
• The Seconds Function

Second Function

Behavior: Returns the second number (from 0 to 59) of a given time, or of the current time.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Time Function
• The Hour Function
• The Minute Function
• The Ticks Function
• The Millisecond and Microsecond Functions
• The Seconds Function

Millisecond, Microsecond Functions

Behavior:

• the millisecond function: Returns the millisecond number (from 0 to 999) of a given time, or of the current time. A millisecond is one thousandth of a second.
• the microsecond function: Returns the microsecond number (from 0 to 999999) of a given time, or of the current time. A microsecond is one millionth of a second.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The Time Function
• The Hour Function
• The Second Function
• The Seconds Function

Convert Command

Behavior: The convert command converts a date/time value to different date/time formats. If the source value being converted is a container, the contents of the container are replaced with the converted value. Otherwise, the result is placed in the variable it.

In either case (except when converting to one of the seconds formats), the resulting value internally is a date/time value with the requested format. This format allows you to add or subtract time intervals from the result while retaining the same format.

The actual formats used are defined in the timeFormat global property and can be changed if desired. The seconds formats have no corresponding value in the timeFormat, so converting to seconds, long seconds, and so forth, results in a fixed string rather than a formatted time value.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

The possible values you can use for formatName are shown in the Format Name column in the following table.

For complete information about how date/time formats are defined in SenseTalk, see SenseTalk Date and Time Formats.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

If the clockFormat global property is set to 24 hour, all time formats will use a 24-hour clock format (e.g., 15:17) instead of using AM or PM (e.g., 3:17 PM). For more information about this property, see Local and Global Properties for Working with Values.

The dateitems formats can be especially useful for working with calendar dates. A date/time represented in dateitems format consists of 7 numbers delimited by commas, representing the year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and day of the week (with 1 representing Sunday, and 7 representing Saturday). The long dateitems and abbreviated dateitems formats also include time zone information. The short dateitems omits the day of the week.

Here is an example that uses dateitems—a calculateAge function similar to one presented in the discussion of Helpers. This version takes advantage of dateitems to handle leap years:

The exact format of all of the date and time formats can be customized within a script by setting the appropriate properties within the timeFormat global property, described in Global and Local Properties for Working with Values.

Basic Date, Basic Time Functions, Common Date, Common Time Functions, DateItems Function, International Date, International Time Functions, Internet Date Functions, Local Time Functions, Simple Date Functions, C Time Functions

Behavior: Each of these functions returns a formatted value representing either the current moment in time or a given moment in time, using a format that is unique to the particular function used. There are four variations of each function, using the function name alone, or preceded by one of the adjectives long, short, or abbreviated (which can be shortened to abbrev or abbr). All of the different formats are shown in the table for the convert command, above.

The basic date formats begin with the month name (or abbreviated name) followed by the day, then the year. The basic time formats add the time of day.

The common date and common time formats are similar to the basic formats, but show the day before the month name rather than after it.

The dateItems format presents a date and time as a comma-separated text list. The short dateItems returns six items: the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. The dateItems (without an adjective) returns seven items, with the seventh being the day of the week (1-7, where Sunday is 1). The abbreviated dateItems adds the timezone offset in HHMM format, and the long dateItems returns that same information, but with the timezone name rather than offset. The value returned by the dateItems function, when converted to text, will automatically display a formatted date. Its value may also be treated as a number, representing the exact date and time when the function was called, for use in date/time calculations.

The international date and international time formats present the full date, the year and month, or the full date and time, in a manner that complies with the international ISO 8601 standard (see http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3339.txt) except for the abbreviatedinternationaltime, which presents a format used widely on the internet that varies slightly from the standard.

The internet date formats present a date and time in a manner that complies with the date and time specification of the internet message format as defined in RFC 2822 (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2822.txt), except that the longinternetdate shows full weekday and month names.

The local time formats present the current time of day, including time zone information.

The simple date formats present the date in a very simple format that includes only the month and day but omits the year.

The C time (or CTime) formats present the date and time in a format used by some C-based systems (including Python).

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

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The value returned by each of these functions contains both a number and a format. When used as text, it will automatically be presented in the format shown in the table for the convert command, above. The returned value may also be treated as a number, for use in date/time calculations. When called without a parameter, the numeric value represents noon on the current date (for the date functions), or the exact date and time when the function was called (for the time functions).

When a dateExpr is given, that expression is evaluated as a date and/or time, and the value returned will represent that date and time (or noon on that date, for the date functions).

Related:

• The Date Function
• The Time Function
• The DateItems Function
• The FormattedTime Function
• The TimeFormat Global Property

FormattedTime Function

Behavior: The formattedTime function returns a date/time value using a custom format that you supply. An optional second parameter is the date/time that you would like to format. If a date/time value is not given, the result is the current time, using the supplied format.

For complete information about how to write date/time formats in SenseTalk, see SenseTalk Date and Time Formats.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• Convert Command
• The TimeFormat Global Property
• SenseTalk Date and Time Formats

MonthNames and WeekDayNames Functions

Behavior:Use both functions when formatting dates:

• the monthNames function: Returns a list of all month names.
• the weekDayNames function: Returns a list of the names of days of the week.

Both functions can be called using the adjectives long, short, and abbreviated to return variations on these. In each case, the long form is the same as not specifying any adjective, the abbreviated form returns a list of three-letter abbreviations rather than the full name, and the short form returns numeric representations.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• The FormattedTime Function
• The Convert Command
• The MonthName Function
• The WeekdayName Function

AvailableTimeZoneNames Function

Behavior: The availableTimeZoneNames function returns a list of time zone names known by the local operating system. These names are what SenseTalk recognizes within date/time strings wherever a time zone name is expected.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Logs all time zones in the Americas:

Related:

• AvailableTimeZoneAbbreviations Function
• Time, AsTime Functions

AvailableTimeZoneAbbreviations Function

Behavior: The availableTimeZoneAbbreviations function returns a property list whose keys are time zone abbreviations. The corresponding value for each abbreviation is the name of the time zone that the abbreviation represents. The abbreviations are recognized within date/time strings wherever a time zone name is expected.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Logs the key and name of all time zones in the Americas:

Related:

• AvailableTimeZoneNames Function
• Time, AsTime Functions

Format Property

Behavior: Each date/time value has a display format associated with it. The format can be accessed directly by using the format property of the value. If the value is stored in a variable, the format property can also be set.

Syntax:

Reading Syntax Definitions

Syntax definitions for language elements follow these formatting guidelines:

• boldface: Indicates words and characters that must be typed exactly
• italic: Indicates expressions or other variable elements
• {} (curly braces): Indicate optional elements.
• [] (square brackets) separated by | (vertical pipes): Indicate alternative options where one or the other can be used, but not both.

Example syntax:

In this example, "open file" is required and must be typed exactly. "fileName" is a variable element; it is the path to and name of the file being opened. The following expression is optional and indicates why the file is being opened. If this expression is added, "for" is required and must be typed exactly. One of the following must be included, but only one, and they also must be typed exactly: "reading", "writing", "readwrite", "appending", or "updating".

open file fileName { for [reading | writing | readwrite | appending | updating] }

Note: SenseTalk is not case-sensitive.

Example:

Example:

Example:

Related:

• SenseTalk Date and Time Formats

This topic was last updated on May 03, 2022, at 01:37:16 PM.

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