formatTimestamp()

The strLib.formatTimestamp() system function accepts a TIMESTAMP value as input and returns a STRING value.

EGL tries the following formats for the conversion, in order. If a particular format is null, empty, or not valid, EGL moves to the next:
  1. The format string provided as a parameter
  2. strLib.defaultTimestampFormat
  3. The mask with which the TIMESTAMP variable was defined
When converting a TIMESTAMP based on its defining mask, EGL inserts the following characters:
  • Dashes as separators between date components
  • A space between dates and times
  • Colons between time components
  • A decimal point (a period, not a locale dependent character) between seconds and fractions of seconds

For more information, see the second example in this topic.

Syntax

  strLib.formatTimestamp(
    aTimeStamp TIMESTAMP(yyyyMMddHHmmssSSSSSS)? in
    [, timestampFormat STRING? in
    ])
  returns (result STRING?)
aTimeStamp
The TIMESTAMP value to be formatted. The input can be any expression that is assignment compatible with a TIMESTAMP value, such as the value returned by the dateTimeLib.currentTimestamp() system function.
timestampFormat
Identifies the timestamp format, as described in Date/time masks and format specifiers. You can use a literal, a string variable, or any of the timestamp format constants described in EGL library strLib.
result
A STRING variable. If aTimeStamp is not valid, the function returns a null value.

Examples

This example provides a complex format pattern:

  myTs TIMESTAMP = "20060606123200";
  myFormat STRING = "MMMMMMMMM dd, yyyy ' at ' hh:mm aa";
  result STRING;
  
  result = strLib.formatTimestamp(myTs,myFormat);
  // result is "June 6, 2006 at 12:32 pm"

In the next example, EGL uses masks from the variables to create the strings:

  ts1 timestamp( "yyyyMMddHHmmssffffff" );
  ts2 timestamp( "yyyyMMdd" );
  ts3 timestamp( "MMddHHmmssff" );
  tsString STRING;

  defaultTimestampFormat = "";
  // uses pattern yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSSSSS
  tsString = formatTimestamp( ts1 );

  // uses pattern yyyy-MM-dd
  tsString = formatTimestamp( ts2 );

  // uses pattern MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SS
  tsString = formatTimestamp( ts3 );