About date formulas

Date functions are useful when you want to compare data collected between two date periods. Date formulas allow you to apply date related functions to your formulas.

Date formulas

The date formulas include:

Function Description Examples

add_days

Returns the result of adding the specified number of days to the given date.

add_days (01/30/2015, 5) = 02/04/2015
add_days (invoiced, 30)

add_minutes

Returns the result of adding the specified number of minutes to the given date/datetime/time.

add_minutes ( 01/30/2015 00:10:20 , 5 ) = 01/30/2015 00:15:20
add_minutes ( invoiced , 30 )

add_months

Returns the result of adding the specified number of months to the given date.

add_months ( 01/30/2015, 5 ) = 06/30/2015
add_months ( invoiced_date , 5 )

add_seconds

Returns the result of adding the specified number of seconds to the given date/ datetime/ time.

add_seconds ( 01/30/2015 00:00:00, 5 ) = 06/30/2015 00:00:05
add_seconds ( invoiced_date , 5 )

add_weeks

Returns the result of adding the specified number of weeks to the given date.

add_weeks ( 01/30/2015, 2 ) = 02/13/2015
add_weeks ( invoiced_date , 2 )

add_years

Returns the result of adding the specified number of years to the given date.

add_years ( 01/30/2015, 5 ) = 01/30/2020
add_years ( invoiced_date , 5 )

date

Returns the date portion of a given date.

date (home visit)

day

Returns the number (1-31) of the day of the month for the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

day (01/15/2014) = 15
day (date ordered)

In the following example, the 15th of the month is the start of the fiscal month.

day (01/17/2019, fiscal) = 3

day_number_of_quarter

Returns the number of the day in a quarter for a given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

day_number_of_quarter (01/30/2015) = 30

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

day_number_of_quarter (01/30/2015, fiscal) = 91

day_number_of_week

Returns the number (1-7) of the day in a week for a given date. Monday is 1, and Sunday is 7. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

day_number_of_week(01/15/2014) = 3
day_number_of_week (shipped)

In the following example, Wednesday is the start of the fiscal week.

day_number_of_week(04/28/2022, fiscal) = 2

day_number_of_year

Returns the number (1-366) of the day in a year from a given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

day_number_of_year (01/30/2015) = 30

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

day_number_of_year ( 01/30/2015, fiscal ) = 275
day_number_of_year (invoiced)

day_of_week

Returns the day of the week for the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

day_of week (01/30/2015) = Friday
day_of_week (serviced)

In the following example, the days of the week are in French in the fiscal calendar.

day_of_week(04/28/2022, fiscal) = jeudi

diff_days

Subtracts the second date from the first date and returns the result in number of days.

diff_days (01/15/2014, 01/17/2014) = -2
diff_days (01/15/2014 01:00:00, 01/14/2014 23:00:00) = 1
diff_days (purchased, shipped)

diff_hours

Subtracts the hour of the second date from the hour of the first date and returns the result in number of hours.

diff_hours (01/15/2014 01:59:59, 01/15/2014 02:00:00) = -1
diff_hours (01/15/2014 01:00:00, 01/15/2014 01:59:59) = 0
diff_hours (clicked, submitted)

diff_minutes

Subtracts the minute of the second date from the minute of the first date and returns the result in number of minutes.

diff_minutes (01/15/2014 01:59:59, 01/15/2014 02:00:00) = -1
diff_minutes (01/15/2014 01:00:00, 01/15/2014 01:00:59) = 0
diff_minutes (clicked, submitted)

diff_months

Subtracts the month of the second date from the month of the first date and returns the result in number of months.

The optional third parameter specifies the custom calendar the formula uses to calculate the result.

diff_months (12/25/2013, 01/01/2014) = -1
diff_months (01/01/2014, 01/25/2014) = 0
diff_months (purchased, shipped)
diff_months (purchased, shipped, fiscal)

diff_quarters

Subtracts the quarter of the second date from the quarter of the first date and returns the result in number of quarters.

The optional third parameter specifies the custom calendar the formula uses to calculate the result.

diff_quarters (12/31/2013, 01/01/2014) = -1
diff_quarters (01/01/2014, 03/31/2014) = 0
diff_quarters (purchased, shipped)
diff_quarters (purchased, shipped, fiscal)

diff_time

Subtracts the second date from the first date and returns the result in number of seconds.

diff_time (01/30/2014, 01/31/2014) = -86,400
diff_time (clicked, submitted)

diff_weeks

Subtracts the week of the second date from the week of the first date and returns the result in number of weeks.

The optional third parameter specifies the custom calendar the formula uses to calculate the result.

diff_weeks (01/05/2014, 01/06/2014) = -1
diff_weeks (01/06/2014, 01/12/2014) = 0
diff_weeks (purchased, shipped)
diff_weeks (purchased, shipped, fiscal)

diff_years

Subtracts the year of the second date from the year of the first date and returns the result in number of years.

The optional third parameter specifies the custom calendar the formula uses to calculate the result.

diff_years (12/25/2013, 01/01/2014) = -1
diff_years (01/01/2014, 12/25/2014) = 0
diff_years (purchased, shipped)
diff_years (purchased, shipped, fiscal)

hour_of_day

Returns the hour of the day for the given date.

hour_of_day (received)

is_weekend

Returns true if the given date falls on a Saturday or Sunday. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

is_weekend (01/31/2015) = true
is_weekend (emailed)

In the following example, Wednesday and Thursday are the days of the weekend in the fiscal week.

is_weekend (04/28/2022, fiscal) = true

month

Returns the month from the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

month (01/15/2014) = January
month (date ordered)

In the following example, the months of the year are in Spanish in the fiscal calendar.

month ( 08/20/2014, fiscal ) = agosto

month_number

Returns the number (1-12) of the month from a given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

month_number (09/20/2014) = 9
month_number (purchased)

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

month_number ( 09/20/2014, fiscal ) = 5

month_number_of_quarter

Returns the month (1-3) number for the given date in a quarter. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

month_number_of_quarter (02/20/2018) = 2

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

month_number_of_quarter (02/20/2018,fiscal ) = 1

now

Returns the current date and time in your locale’s standard date and time format. For example, if your locale is English (United States), it returns MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss (04/27/2022 12:34:00).

now ()

quarter_number

Returns the number (1-4) of the quarter associated with the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify fiscal or calendar dates. The default is calendar.

quarter_number ( 04/14/2014) = 2

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

quarter_number ( 04/14/2014, fiscal ) = 4
quarter_number ( shipped )

start_of_month

Returns MMM yyyy for the first day of the month. Your installation configuration can override this setting so that it returns a different format such as MM/dd/yyyy. Speak with your ThoughtSpot administrator for information on doing this. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

start_of_month ( 01/31/2015 ) = Jan 2015
start_of_month (shipped)

In the following example, the 15th is the start of the fiscal month.

start_of_month ( 01/14/2022, fiscal) = Dec 2021

start_of_quarter

Returns the date for the first day of the quarter for the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

start_of_quarter ( 04/30/2014) = Apr 2014

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

start_of_quarter ( 04/30/2014, fiscal) = Feb 2014
start_of_quarter (sold)

start_of_week

Returns the date for the first day of the week for the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

start_of_week ( 01/31/2020 ) = 01/27/2020
start_of_week (emailed)

In the following example, Wednesday is the start of the fiscal week.

start_of_week ( 04/28/2022, fiscal) = 04/27/2022

start_of_year

Returns the date for the first day of the year for the given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

start_of_year (04/30/2014) returns Jan 2014

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

start_of_year (04/30/2014, fiscal) returns May 2013
start_of_year (joined)

time

Returns the time portion of a given date.

time (1/31/2002 10:32) = 10:32
time (call began)

today

Returns the current date in your locale’s standard date format. For example, if your locale is English (United States), it returns MM/dd/yyyy (04/27/2022).

today ()

week_number_of_month

Returns the week number for the given date in a month. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

week_number_of_month(03/23/2017) = 3

In the following example, the 15th is the start of the fiscal month.

week_number_of_month (05/31/2020, fiscal) = 3

week_number_of_quarter

Returns the week number for the given date in a quarter. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

week_number_of_quarter (01/31/2020) = 5

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

week_number_of_quarter (05/31/2020, fiscal) = 5

week_number_of_year

Returns the week number for the given date in a year. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

week_number_of_year (01/17/2014) = 3

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year.

week_number_of_year ( 01/17/2014, fiscal) = 38

year

Returns the year in integer format for a given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

year (01/15/2014) = 2014

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year. Per standard convention, the fiscal year is defined by the year-end date.

year (12/15/2013, fiscal ) = 2014
year (date ordered)

year_name

Returns the year in string format for a given date. You can add an optional second parameter to specify whether a fiscal or calendar year is used to calculate the result. The default is calendar.

year (01/15/2014) = "2014"
year (date ordered)

In the following example, May 1st is the start of the fiscal year. Per standard convention, the fiscal year is defined by the year-end date.

year (12/15/2013, fiscal ) = "FY_2014"

Calculate date formulas

Calculating date formulas is useful when you want to compare data from different date periods. Here are some examples of using date formulas:

Example 1

The following example shows you how to create formulas that you can use to compare data from this week to last week.

  • The formula for this week is: week ( today () ) - week (date)

  • The formula for last week is: diff_days ( week ( today () ) ) , week ( date ) )

Example 2

The following example shows you how to calculate the percent increase from the last date period to this period in terms of revenue.

  1. Create the formula: this week revenue = sum ( if ( this week ) then revenue else 0 )

  2. Then create the formula: last week revenue = sum ( if (last week ) then revenue else 0 )

  3. Use nested formulas to calculate the percent increase by creating a parent formula: percent increase = ( ( this week revenue - last week revenue) / last week revenue ) * 100

Fiscal and Gregorian calendars

For the following date formulas, you can further specify either fiscal, Gregorian calendar, or any other custom calendar on which to base date calculations. (If you do not specify a calendar type, the formula defaults to the default cluster calendar.)

  • day

  • day_number_of_quarter

  • day_number_of_week

  • day_number_of_year

  • day_of_week

  • diff_months

  • diff_quarters

  • diff_weeks

  • diff_years

  • is_weekend

  • month

  • month_number

  • month_number_of_quarter

  • quarter_number

  • start_of_month

  • start_of_quarter

  • start_of_week

  • start_of_year

  • week_number_of_month

  • week_number_of_quarter

  • week_number_of_year

  • year

Your ThoughtSpot administrator and ThoughtSpot Support can create a custom calendar to start on any month. If the fiscal year is not explicitly configured in the system, fiscal defaults to January, the same as the Gregorian calendar.

For example, the formula month_number_of_quarter (05/31/2014) would return 2 based on the default Gregorian calendar, whereas the formula month_number_of_quarter (05/31/2014, 'fiscal') would return 1 if your administrator has configured the fiscal calendar to start in May.

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