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Release 5.0.1


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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.

Basic Usage

derive type:single value:UNIXTIME(MyDate)

Output: Generates a column of values that computes the Unix time values from the MyDate column.

Syntax and Arguments

derive type:single value:UNIXTIME(datetime_col)

ArgumentRequired?Data TypeDescription
datetime_colYdatetimeName 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 TypeExample Value
YesDatetimemyDate

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.

Source:

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

Transform:


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

derive type:single value: UNIXTIME (date)

Results:

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

dateunixtime_date
2/8/16 15:411454946120000
12/30/15 0:001451433600000
4/26/15 7:071430032020000

 

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