Xbasic

Time and Date Functions

Description

Descriptions and examples of time and date functions.

  1. Create a new A5W page with the following content.

    <%a5
    dim ultext as C = "Four score and seven years ago"
    dim extraspaces as C = " Four score "
    dim allcaps as C = "SEVEN YEARS AGO"
    %>
    <html>
    <head>
    <meta name="generator" content="Alpha Anywhere HTML Editor">
    <title>Date and Time Functions</title>
    </head>
    <body>
    <br>
    <h1><font face=Verdana color=#0000ff>Date and time functions</font></h1>
    <font face=Verdana size=2><ul>
    <%a5
    ? "<li>ADD_BUS_DAYS()computes a new date. For example ADD_BUS_DAYS({1/1/84},180) adds 180 business days to 1/1/84, producing " + ADD_BUS_DAYS({1/1/84},180) + "<br>"
    ? "<li>ADDMONTHS()computes a new date. For example ADDMONTHS({1/31/84},3) adds 3 months to 1/31/84, producing " + ADDMONTHS({1/31/84},3) + "<br>"
    ? "<li>DATE()returns today's date. For example DATE()returns " + DATE()+ "<br>"
    ? "<li>DATE_VALUE()returns a computed date. For example DATE_VALUE(2004, 8, 23) returns " + DATE_VALUE(2004, 8, 23) + "<br>"
    ? "<li>DTOC()produces a formatted date. For example, DTOC(DATE(),\"4\") produces " + DTOC(DATE(),"4") + "<br>"
    ? "<li>NOW()returns the current date and time, but the default HTML presentation of NOW()returns " + NOW()+ "<br>"
    ? "<li>TIME()returns the current system time. For example TIME()returns " + TIME()+ "<br>"
    ? "<li>TOTIME()returns a formatted time based on the number of seconds past midnight. For example TOTIME(12400,12,0) returns " + TOTIME(12400,12,0) + "<br>"
    %>
    </ul></font>
    <font face=Verdana>Check out <a href="sys_resolve_url("https://documentation.alphasoftware.com/documentation/pages/index?search=Date%20and%20Time%20Functions")">
    <font face=Verdana>Date and Time Functions</a> for more information.</font>
    </body>
    </html>
    • Note in this example.

      You must surround a date value expressed in numbers with "{}".

    • HTML displays a Time value (which contains both date and time) as a date only.

    • There are multiple built-in date and time formats. The TOTIME(12400,12,0) function uses format 12. The DTOC(DATE(),"4") function uses format "4".

    • Alpha Anywhere has more than 50 character manipulation for computing, formatting, and displaying date and time values.

  2. Click File > Save As to save your page as "Date and Time Functions".

  3. Click the 'lightning' icon to run the page in Live Preview. The result should look like this.

    • Function
      Description
      ADD_BUS_DAYS()

      Adds or subtracts days to a date to return a new date.

      ADDMONTHS()

      Adds or subtracts months from a date to return a new date.

      DATE()

      Returns today's date.

      DATE_VALUE()

      Returns a date based on year, month, and day numbers.

      DTOC()

      Formats a date value.

      NOW()

      Returns the current date and time.

      TIME()

      Returns the current system time.

      TOTIME()

      Returns a time value based on the number of seconds past midnight.

    images/WPT_Date_and_Time_Functions.gif