$Sir_Date2N
Convert datetime string to number of seconds/300
Note: Most Sirius $functions have been deprecated in favor of Object Oriented methods. There is currentyly no OO equivalent for the $Sir_Date2N function.
The $Sir_Date2N function expects a datetime value string and a datetime format string and returns the input datetime converted to the number of 1/300th seconds since 1 January, 1900. It accepts an optional CENTSPAN value and an optional error control string. If an error is detected, the returned value is -9E12 (-9000000000000).
Syntax
%num = $Sir_Date2N(dat, fmt, span, errctl)
Syntax terms
| %num | Set to the value of dat, converted to the number of 1/300th second units from 1 Jan 1900 12:00 AM. |
|---|---|
| dat | Datetime value string. |
| fmt | Datetime format string corresponding to dat. Refer to "Datetime string formats" for an explanation of valid datetime formats and valid dates. Non-strict matching is used for input format fmt; see "Strict and non-strict format matching". |
| span | Optional CENTSPAN value; default is -50. |
| errctl | Optional error control string; refer to "Datetime Error Handling". |
Usage notes
- Values returned by $Sir_Date2N often exceed the range that can be represented in a 4-byte integer, so you should probably avoid storing the value in a BINARY or FLOAT4 field.
- Dates prior to 1 January 1900 return a negative number.
- The inverse of this $function is $Sir_N2Date.
- $Sir_Date2N returns the value
-9E12(-9000000000000) in the following cases (see the discussion in "Datetime error handling"):- fmt is not a valid datetime format.
- dat does not match fmt.
- dat is outside of range permitted for fmt.
- span is invalid.
Example
The following fragment prints the value Before:
If $Sir_Date2N('121494', 'MMDDYY') < $Sir_Date2N('040195', 'MMDDYY') Then Print 'Before' End If