Formatting INTERVAL values

When does INTERVAL formatting take place?

Interval formatting occurs when converting a INTERVAL to a string, for example in a LET, DISPLAY or PRINT instruction, and when displaying interval values in form fields.

By default, INTERVAL values are formatted in the ISO format:

[+|-]yyyy-mm

or:

[+|-]dddd hh:mm:ss.fffff

The next example formats a INTERVAL value by using the util.Interval.format() method:

IMPORT util
MAIN
  DEFINE iv INTERVAL DAY(6) TO MINUTE
  LET iv = "-157 11:23"
  DISPLAY util.Interval.format(iv, "%d %H:%M")
END MAIN

This code example produces the following output:

-157 11:23

And interval value can be formatted with the util.Interval.format() method.

Converting strings to INTERVAL values

When a string represents a interval value is ISO format, it can be directly converted to a INTERVAL:

DEFINE iv INTERVAL HOUR(6) TO FRACTION(5)
LET iv = "20234:34:56.82373"

If you need to convert a string that does not follow the ISO format, use the util.Interval.parse() method, by specifying a format string:

DEFINE iv INTERVAL DAY(6) TO FRACTION(5)
LET iv = util.Interval.parse( "-7467 + 23:45:34.12345", "%d + %H:%M:%S%F5" )

Formatting symbols for INTERVAL values

When formatting INTERVAL values, the format-string of the util.Interval.parse() and util.Interval.format() methods consists of a set of place holders that represent the different parts of a interval value (year, month, day, hour, minute, second and fraction).

Table 1 shows the formatting symbols for INTERVAL expressions. Any character different from the placeholders described in this table is interpreted as a literal and will appear as-is in the resulting string.

Table 1. Format-string symbols for INTERVAL values
Placeholder	Description
`%Y`	Years (0-999999999)
`%m`	Month (00-11) or (0-999999999)
`%d`	Days (0-999999999)
`%H`	Hours (00-23) or (0-999999999)
`%M`	Minutes (00-59) or (0-999999999)
`%S`	Secondes (00-59) or (0-999999999)
`%F[n]`	The fractional part of a second, where n specifies the number of digits in the fractional part (1 to 5)
`%t`	A tab character
`%n`	A newline character

Table 2. Interval formatting examples
Format String	Interval value	Result string
`%d days %H:%M`	`54561 11:23`	`54561 days 11:23`
`%d days %H:%M:%S%F5`	`54561 11:23:45.12345`	`54561 days 11:23:45.12345`
`[%Y years and %m months]`	`1023-03`	`[1023 years and 03 months]`