Date Functions

This function returns the date which is obtained after adding X number of days to a particular date. Example Use Case: Often used in Commerce to set the time a quote is valid, or when it expires.

Return Type: Date

Example:

We will use multiple functions to accomplish the following:

• Add 60 days to the current date.
• Convert that date to a string format.
• Remove the hours:minutes:seconds from the return.

This function returns the date which results after adding or subtracting a number of months from a specified date. This function is available in BML and Commerce Library functions. Example Use Case: Often used to set the expiration date for quote, assign end dates to contracts, or assign renewal dates for subscriptions.

Syntax: Date addmonths (Date date, Integer num_of_months)

Parameters:

Return Type: Date

Example:

return datetostr(addmonths(getdate(), 2));

This BML Date function takes into account the number of days in a month and leap year. If the date is at the end of a month, the date result will be a valid calendar day for the calendar year.

• January 31st + 1 month = February 28th (unless leap year then February 29th)
• February 28th + 1 month = March 28th
• August 31st + 3 months = Nov 30th
• Sept 28th + 1 month = October 28th
• Dec 15th - 3 months = September 15th

Use this function to compare two dates based on date and time.

Return Type: Integer

Example:

This function converts a date to a string. It can take an optional parameter that can return a formatted string.

Example Use Case: Date fields in commerce are considered string fields, so to return a date to a commerce attribute you need to convert it to a string first.

Return Type: String

Examples :

• Example 1:

  testDate = strtojavadate("02/03/2010 03-22-55", "MM/dd/yyyy HH-mm-ss");
  dateStr = datetostr(testDate, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")
  

  • dateStr now holds the string "2010-02-03 03:22:55"

  • The date and time is stored in the server's time zone by default (For this example, assume GMT-8).

• Example 2: Retrieve the data in another time zone, include the"timeZone" parameter as a string.

  datestr = datetostr(testDate, "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss", "GMT-6")

  • datestr returns "2010-02-03 01:22:55"

• Example 3:

  twelvehour = datetostr(testDate, "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss a", "GMT+4")

  • twelvehour will return "2010-02-03 03:22:55 PM"

  The function datetostr (getdate()) will return today's date in the format MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss if no format is supplied

This function returns the current time in milliseconds.

Syntax: Integer getcurrenttimeinmillis()

Return Type:  Integer

This function returns the current date/time based on the base time zone you have set-up in your application. The function takes a parameter and returns a date, with or without time. Example Use Case: Find the current date.

Return Type: Date

Example getdate:

Example getdate(false):

This function calculates the number of days between two different dates. Example Use Case: Check to see if a quote is expired.

Return Type: Float

Example:

Using this function will determine whether the date falls within a leap year. The function will return true if the year provided as a parameter is a leap year.

Example Use Case: Can determine if the date entered by a user is a valid date; or can be used when trying to calculate the total number of days in a given year.

Return Type: Boolean

Example:

Since the year 2008 was a leap year, the function returns True.

This function determines whether a date falls within a weekend (Saturday or Sunday). The function will return true if the date provided as a parameter is a Saturday or Sunday.

Example Use Case: Can determine if the date entered by a user is a valid date.

Return Type: Boolean

Example:

The console will return either True or False.

This function returns a date that is x days before the base date. Example Use Case: Can be used to set an expiration date of a quote.

Return Type: Date

Example:

Syntax: strtodate(String str, String format [, String timeZone])

This function converts a string to a date and replicates Java behavior. Use this function instead of strtodate(), which is deprecated and no longer supported.

Syntax:: strtojavadate(String str, String format, [String timeZone])

Parameters:

Return Type: Date

Examples:

• Example 1: Convert to US Format

  strtojavadate("02/12/2010", "MM/dd/yyyy")
  

  Returns a date object representing February 12th, 2010.

• Example 2: Convert to European Format

  strtojavadate("01/02/2010", "dd/MM/yyyy")

  Returns a date object representing 01 February 2010.

• Example 3: Convert to European Format with Paris, France time zone

  parisdate = strtojavadate("01/02/2010 16:30:40", "dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss", "Europe/Paris")

  Returns a date object representing 01 February 2010 with a time zone in Paris France.

  When the datetostr method is used, another time zone can be specified and will render with the appropriate time difference.

  datetostr(parisdate, "dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss", "America/Chicago")

  Returns a date object with a Paris France time zone rendered into a Chicago time zone, "01/02/2010 09:30:40"