convert_date()

Convert the Gregorian date and time to the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 GMT January 1, 1970.

Syntax

convert_date(day date month year time [timezone],[timezone])
convert_date(day month date time [timezone] year,[timezone])
convert_date(day month date time year,[timezone])

Parameters

Parameter	Definition
day	three-character string representing the day of the weekValid Values Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
date	integer day of the monthValid Values 1-31
month	three-character string representing the month Valid Values Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
year	integer yearValid Values 1902-2037
time	eight-character string in the form hh : mm : ss representing the timeValid Values hh hours (00-23) mm minutes (00-59) ss seconds (00-59)
timezone	optional time zone for which the conversion is being performedValid Values A through I, K through Z-- military time zones ADT-- Atlantic Daylight AHST-- Alaska-Hawaii Standard AST-- Atlantic Standard AT-- Azores BST-- British Summer BT-- Baghdad, USSR Zone 2 CADT-- Central Australian Daylight CAST-- Central Australian Standard CAT-- Central Alaska CCT-- China Coast, USSR Zone 7 CDT-- Central Daylight CET-- Central European CST-- Central Standard EADT-- Eastern Australian Daylight EAST-- Eastern Australian Standard EDT-- Eastern Daylight EET-- Eastern Europe, USSR Zone 1 EST-- Eastern Standard FST-- French Summer FWT-- French Winter GMT-- Greenwich Mean GST-- Guam Standard, USSR Zone 9 HDT-- Hawaii Daylight HST-- Hawaii Standard IDLE-- International Date Line East IDLW-- International Date Line West IST-- Indian Standard IT-- Iran JST-- Japan Standard, USSR Zone 8 JT-- Java MDT-- Mountain Daylight MEST-- Middle European Summer MET-- Middle European MEWT-- Middle European Winter
timezone (continued)	IT-- Iran JST-- Japan Standard, USSR Zone 8 JT-- Java MDT-- Mountain Daylight MEST-- Middle European Summer MET-- Middle European MEWT-- Middle European Winter MST-- Mountain Standard NDT-- Newfoundland Daylight NFT-- Newfoundland NST-- Newfoundland Standard NT-- Nome NZDT-- New Zealand Daylight NZST-- New Zealand Standard NZT-- New Zealand PDT-- Pacific Daylight PST-- Pacific Standard SST-- Swedish Summer SWT-- Swedish Winter TZ1-- See User-Defined Time Zone on next page. TZ2-- See User-Defined Time Zone on next page. UT or UTC-- Universal (Coordinated) WADT-- West Australian Daylight WAST-- West Australian Standard WAT-- West Africa WET-- Western European YDT-- Yukon Daylight YST-- Yukon Standard ZP4-- USSR Zone 3 ZP5-- USSR Zone 4 ZP6-- USSR Zone 5
timezone (continued)	Relative Time Zones The time zone can also be specified as a relative value to one of the supported time zones. The following example would specify Greenwich Mean Time plus eight hours: "GMT+0800"User-Defined Time Zones You can assign values to the TZ1 and TZ2 time zones by using the AgentSetup/PATROLTZ variable. This variable uses the format REPLACE="TZ1/ offset1 ,TZ2/ offset2 " where offset1and offset2 represent the difference (in minutes) between GMT and the user-defined time zone. For example, the following syntax would mean that the first time zone is three hours ahead of GMT while the second time zone is one hour behind GMT: REPLACE="TZ1/+180,TZ2/-60"Default computer system local time zone

Description

The convert_date() function returns an integer that is the number of seconds past 00:00:00 GMT January 1, 1970 of the specified date and time string. The convert_date() command can parse any of three date and time string formats:

RFC-822 format (day, date month year time timezone)
Unix format (day month date time timezone year)
PSL date() function format (day month date time year)

The convert_date() function requires the timezone parameter to correctly convert the date and time. If timezone is not specified, either in the date and time string (RFC-822 and Unix formats) or as a separate parameter (all formats), the convert_date() function uses the time zone defined for the machine on which it is executing.

If the convert_date() function encounters an error, it returns a zero and sets the PSL errno variable as follows:

errno Value	Description
111	E_PSL_BAD_DATE_STRING-- indicates that the convert_date() function could not parse the date and time string
112	E_PSL_BAD_TIMEZONE -- indicates that the convert_date() function did not recognize the specified timezone
113	E_PSL_CANNOT_DETERMINE_TIMEZONE -- indicates that the convert_date() function is using timezone = GMT because notimezone was supplied and the time zone used by the system could not be determined

Example

The following convert_date() function calls illustrate the different ways to specify the timezone parameter:

# Specify timezone as part of the date and time string
seconds = convert_date("Fri Mar 8 11:39:07 CST 1996");
print("Converted time is ",seconds,"\n");
# Specify timezone as a separate parameter
seconds = convert_date("Fri Mar 8 11:39:07 1996","CST");
print("Converted time is ",seconds,"\n");
# Use time zone defined in the operating system
seconds = convert_date("Fri Mar 8 11:39:07 1996");
print("Converted time is ",seconds,"\n");

In the case where the operating system uses the CST time zone, the example produces the following output:

Converted time is 826306747
Converted time is 826306747
Converted time is 826306747