Date and Time
These functions perform operations and comparisons on dates and times.
datecmp
Description
The datecmp() function compares two dates and returns the results of the comparison.
The two input parameters, date1 and date2, contain the date strings to compare. These fields should have the format YYYY/MM/DD, where:
YYYY: A year numeric character string such as 2001. If the specified year is only two digits, then that value is automatically concatenated with 19 to form a year between 1900 and 1999, inclusive. For example, if the value 01 is supplied for year, the actual year value is processed as 1901.
MM: Month between 1 and 12 inclusive
DD: Day between 1 and 31 inclusive.
Use the forward slash character (/) as a field separator. Zeros or spaces can be used as leading pad characters for the year, month, or day.
Syntax
result = datecmp (date1, date2);
Arguments
| date1 | Required. Character string containing a date formatted as YYYY/MM/DD |
| date2 | Required. Character string containing a date formatted as YYYY/MM/DD |
Return values
| Negative Integer: | - A negative integer is returned if date1 is less than date2 (date1 < date2). |
| 0 | Zero is returned if date1 is equal to date2 (date1 == date2). |
| Positive Integer | A positive integer is returned if date1 is greater than date2 (date1 < date2). |
Example
In this example, datecmp compares the value in date1 against the date January 21, 2002. The result is returned in result. Because date1 contains the date 2001/01/21, the result of datecmp is a negative integer because date1 is less than date2.
date1 = "2001/01/21";
result = datecmp (date1, "2002/01/21");
strftime
Description
The strftime() function formats the current date and time, as defined on Policy Server host, per the supplied format string.
Note
For more information on how to create a format string, see Time Format Commands.
Note that different operating systems may provide different options for their own native strftime() function. Consult your operating system’s strftime() manual page for more information.
Syntax
result = strftime (formatstring);
Arguments
| formatstring | Required. Character string that contains the format command characters that specify how the current date should be formatted. |
Return values
strftime() returns a formatted character string containing the current date and time from the Policy Server host.
See also
date, day, dayname, hour, minute, month, time, year
timebetween
Description
The timebetween() function determines whether the current time, as defined on the Policy Server host, is between time1 and time2, inclusive.
The time1 and time2 parameters contain integer time values. These time values should be specified in military time (HHMM) format, where:
HH: A number from 0 to 23, inclusive, that represents the hour
MM: A number between 0 to 59, inclusive, that represents the minutes
If time2 < time1, the comparison crosses the midnight boundary.
Syntax
result = timebetween (time1, time2);
Arguments
| time1 | Required. An integer containing a time value formatted as HHMM |
| time2 | Required. An integer containing a time value formatted as *HHMM |
Return values
| true | The current time is between time1 and time2 or the current time is equal to either time1 or time2. |
| false | The current time is either less time1 or greater than time2. |
Example
In the example,
result = timebetween (1100, 1500);
the following times set result as follows:
- 08:00 result set to false
- 11:00 result set to true
- 12:30 result set to true
- 15:00 result set to true
- 15:01 result set to false
Updated 5 days ago