TalendDate Routines

The TalendDate routines allow you to carry out different kinds of operations and checks concerning the format of Date expressions.

To access these routines, double-click TalendDate under the system folder:

Routine	Description	Syntax
`addDate`	Adds n days, n months, n hours, n minutes or n seconds to a Java date and returns the new date. The Date format is: `yyyy`, `MM`, `dd`, `HH`, `mm`, `ss` or `SSS`.	`TalendDate.addDate("initial date string", "date format - eg.: yyyy/MM/dd", integer n,"format of the part of the date to which n is to be added - eg.:yyyy")`.
`compareDate`	Compares all or part of two dates according to the format specified. Returns `0` if the dates are identical, `-1` if the first date is earlier and `1` if the second date is earlier.	`TalendDate.compareDate(Date date1, Date date2, "format to be compared - eg.: yyyy-MM-dd")`
`diffDate`	Returns the difference between two dates in terms of days, months or years according to the comparison parameter specified.	`TalendDate.diffDate(Date1(), Date2(), "format of the part of the date to be compared - eg.:yyyy")`
`diffDateFloor`	Returns the difference between two dates by floor in terms of years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds or milliseconds according to the comparison parameter specified.	`TalendDate.diffDateFloor(Date1(), Date2(), "format of the part of the date to be compared - eg.:MM")`
`formatDate`	Returns a date string which corresponds to the format specified.	`TalendDate.formatDate("date format - eg.: yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss", Date() to be formatted`
`formatDateLocale`	Changes a date into a date/hour string according to the format used in the target country.	`TalendDate.formatDateLocale ("format target", java.util.Date date, "language or country code")`
`getCurrentDate`	Returns the current date. No entry parameter is required.	`TalendDate.getCurrentDate()`
`getDate`	Returns the current date and hour in the format specified (optional). This string can contain fixed character strings or variables linked to the date. By default, the string is returned in the format of `DD/MM/CCYY`.	`TalendDate.getDate("Format of the string - ex: CCYY-MM-DD")`
`getFirstDayOfMonth`	Changes the date of an event to the first day of the current month and returns the new date.	`TalendDate.getFirstDayMonth(Date)`
`getLastDayOfMonth`	Changes the date of an event to the last day of the current month and returns the new date.	`TalendDate.getLastDayMonth(Date)`
`getPartOfDate`	Returns part of a date according to the format specified. This string can contain fixed character strings or variables linked to the date.	`TalendDate.getPartOfDate("String indicating the part of the date to be retrieved, "String in the format of the date to be parsed")`
`getRandomDate`	Returns a random date, in the ISO format.	`TalendDate.getRandomDate("format date of the character string", String minDate, String maxDate)`
`isDate`	Checks whether the date string corresponds to the format specified. Returns the boolean value true or false according to the outcome.	`TalendDate.isDate(Date() to be checked, "format of the date to be checked - eg.: yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")`
`parseDate`	Changes a string into a Date. Returns a date in the standard format.	`TalendDate.parseDate("format date of the string to be parsed", "string in the format of the date to be parsed")`
`parseDateInUTC`	changes a string into a Date in UTC. Returns a date in the UTC format.	`TalendDate.parseDateInUTC("format date of the string to be parsed", "string in the format of the date to be parsed", "boolean about whether parsing is set to be lenient, that is to say, accepting the heuristic match with the format")`
`parseDateLocale`	Parses a .string according to a specified format and extracts the date. Returns the date according to the local format specified.	`TalendDate.parseDateLocale("date format of the string to be parsed", "String in the format of the date to be parsed", "code corresponding to the country or language")`
`setDate`	Modifies part of a date according to the part and value of the date specified and the format specified.	`TalendDate.setDate(Date, whole n, "format of the part of the date to be modified - eg.:yyyy")`
`TO_CHAR`	Converts a date to a character string.	`TalendDate.TO_CHAR(date[,format])` date: the date value you want to convert to a character string. format: the string which defines the format of the return value.
`TO_DATE`	Converts a character string to a Date/Time datatype.	`TalendDate.TO_DATE(string[, format])` string: the string you want to convert to a Date/Time datatype. format: the format string that matches the part of the `string` argument. If not specified, the `string` value must be in the date format `MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss.SSS`. For example, `TalendDate.TO_DATE("04/24/2017 13:55:42.123")` will return `Mon Apr 24 13:55:42 CST 2017`.
`ADD_TO_DATE`	Adds a specified amount to one part of a datetime value, and returns a date in the same format as the date you pass to the function.	`TalendDate.ADD_TO_DATE(date, format, amount)` date: the date value you want to change. format: the format string specifying the portion of the date value you want to change. Valid format strings for year: `Y`, `YY`, `YYY`, and `YYYY`. Valid format strings for month: `MONTH`, `MM`, and `MON`. Valid format strings for day: `D`, `DD`, `DDD`, `DAY`, and `DY`. Valid format strings for hour: `HH`, `HH12`, and `HH24`. Valid format string for minute: `MI`. Valid format string for second : `SS`. Valid format string for millisecond: `MS`. amount: the integer value specifying the amount of years, months, days, hours, and so on by which you want to change the date value. For example, if `TalendDate.getCurrentDate()` returns `Mon Apr 24 14:26:03 CST 2017`, `TalendDate.ADD_TO_DATE(TalendDate.getCurrentDate(), "YY", 1)` will return `Tue Apr 24 14:26:03 CST 2018`.

Warning:

Although "yyyy" and "YYYY" in the date format return the same year number in most cases , "YYYY" may not work as expected when used:

at the first week of a year if the year does not start by the first day of the week.
at the last week of a year if the year does not end by the last day of the week.

For example, when calculating what date it is 3 days before January 2, 2016, the code below would return a wrong date:

System.out.println(TalendDate.formatDate("YYYY-MM-dd", TalendDate.addDate(TalendDate.TO_DATE("01/02/2016 08:10:30.123"), -3, "dd")));

while the following code would work as expected:

System.out.println(TalendDate.formatDate("yyyy-MM-dd", TalendDate.addDate(TalendDate.TO_DATE("01/02/2016 08:10:30.123"), -3, "dd")));

Therefore, you should typically use "yyyy", which represents calendar year.

TalendDate Routines - Cloud

Talend Cloud Data Management Platform Studio User Guide