UNIXTIME Function

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Derives the Unixtime (or epoch time) value from a Datetime value. Source value can be a reference to a column containing Datetime values.

Unix time is a date-time format used to express the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970 00:00:00 (UTC).

Unix time does not handle the extra seconds that occur on the extra day of leap years.

This function factors any timezone values in the inputs.

If you have a column with multiple time zones, you can convert the column to Unixtime so you can perform Date/Time operations with a standardized time zone.
If you want to work with local times, you can truncate the time zone or use other Date functions.
If the source Datetime value does not include a valid input for this function, a missing value is returned.

Wrangle vs. SQL: This function is part of Wrangle, a proprietary data transformation language. Wrangle is not SQL. For more information, see Wrangle Language.

Basic Usage

unixtime(MyDate)

Output: Returns the Unix time values from the MyDate column.

Syntax and Arguments

unixtime(datetime_col)

Argument	Required?	Data Type	Description
datetime_col	Y	datetime	Name of column whose Unix time values are to be computed

For more information on syntax standards, see Language Documentation Syntax Notes.

datetime_col

Name of the column whose Unix time value is to be computed.

Missing values for this function in the source data result in missing values in the output.
Invalid or out-of-range source values generate missing values in the output.
Multiple columns and wildcards are not supported.
Includes time zone offset when it converts Date/Time values to unixtime.
If the date value does not include a time zone, unixtime uses UTC (0:00).

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
Yes	Datetime	`myDate`

Examples

Tip: For additional examples, see Common Tasks.

Example - Unix time generation and formatting

This example illustrates how you can use functions to manipulate Unix time values in a column of Datetime type.

Functions:

Item	Description
UNIXTIME Function	Derives the Unixtime (or epoch time) value from a Datetime value. Source value can be a reference to a column containing Datetime values.

Source:

date
2/8/16 15:41
12/30/15 0:00
4/26/15 7:07

Transformation:

Use the following transformation step to generate a column containing the above values as Unix timecode values:

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	`Single row formula`
Parameter: Formula	`UNIXTIME (date)`
Parameter: New column name	`'unixtime_date'`

Results:

NOTE: If the source Datetime value does not contain a valid input for one of these functions, no value is returned.

date	unixtime_date
2/8/16 15:41	1454946120000
12/30/15 0:00	1451433600000
4/26/15 7:07	1430032020000

See Also for EXAMPLE - Unixtime Functions:

Page:

UNIXTIME Function
Page:

UNIXTIMEFORMAT Function

See Also for UNIXTIME Function:

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