HOW TO: Get the Elapsed Time Between Dates

Classic Servoy
1

Hi All,

I’ve been working with several projects that I need to get the elapsed time between two dates. After mucking around with it - I’ve put it into a single FUNCTION that will return either:

Seconds (integer)
Minutes (‘xx minutes’)
Hours (‘xx hours’)
Days (‘xx days’)
String (‘xx days yy hours zz minutes yy seconds’)

This function takes 2 mandatory parameters - StartDate and EndDate, and you can optionally provide the 3rd parameter (format).

Calling syntax looks like this:

elements.result.text = globals.getElapsed(globals.gStartDate, globals.gEndDate, ‘minutes’);

I called my global method “getElapsed” - but you can call yours whatever you want - just be sure you change the name in the calling method. For example if you called your global method “myGreatGlobalMethod” then the calling script would be:

elements.result.text = globals.myGreatGlobalMethod(globals.gStartDate, globals.gEndDate, ‘minutes’);

I’ve posted the code below.

ENJOY!

Bob Cusick

==================================

//returns the elapsed time according to the format

//arg0 = start date
//arg1 = end date
//arg2 = format ('seconds', 'minutes', 'hours', 'days', 'string', '' -- blank returns full string)

//***********************************
//convert dates to milliseconds

var sTime = arguments[0];
var eTime = arguments[1];
var format = arguments[2].toLowerCase();
var output = '';

//***********************************
//do the math to get the values

var elapsedSeconds = Math.ceil((eTime - sTime)/1000);
var days = Math.floor(elapsedSeconds / 86400);
var hours = Math.floor((elapsedSeconds - (days*86400))/3600);
var minutes = Math.floor((elapsedSeconds - ((days * 86400) + (hours * 3600)))/60);
var seconds = Math.floor(elapsedSeconds - ((days * 86400) + (hours * 3600) + (minutes * 60)));

//***********************************
//format for the return values

if(days == 1) {
	days = days + ' day';
} else {
	days = days + ' days';
}

if(hours == 1) {
	hours = hours + ' hour';
} else {
	hours = hours + ' hours';
}

if(minutes == 1) {
	minutes = minutes + ' minute';
} else {
	minutes = minutes + ' minutes';
}

if(seconds == 1) {
	seconds = seconds + ' second';
} else {
	seconds = seconds + ' seconds';
}

//***********************************
//return based on what was requested

switch (format)
{
	case 'seconds':
	output = elapsedSeconds
	break;
	case 'minutes':
	output = minutes
	break;
	case 'hours':
	output = hours
	break;
	case 'days':
	output = days
	break;
	default:
	output = days + ' ' + hours + ' ' + minutes + ' ' + seconds
	
}

return output;
2

bcusick:
Hi All,

I’ve been working with several projects that I need to get the elapsed time between two dates. After mucking around with it - I’ve put it into a single FUNCTION that will return either:

I needed this functionality in a solution: I tested your function and WORKS GREAT! :-D

Thanks a lot, Bob :-)

3

Thanks a lot for your feedback Riccardino! I’m glad you found it useful!

Cheers,

Bob