# Date & Time Helpers The Date & Time helpers allow you to manipulate date and time values of various formats from connectors and triggers. ## Overview The Date & Time helpers allow you to manipulate date and time values of various formats from connectors and triggers. These are commonly used for tasks such as converting date/time values to different formats, or finding the difference between two date & time values. ## Formatting the date A date string or timestamp can be formatted into a particular style of writing using the `Format date` operation of the Date & Time Helpers connector. For instance, '2006-01-22' is represented by `YYYY-MM-DD`, while 'Sun, January 22nd 2006' is represented by `ddd, MMMM Do YYYY`. Note that you can escape said characters by using either `\` or `[]`. For example, when using the timezone reference: `Z`: ![date-time-helper-z](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/6217f764-6faa69aa_date-time-helper-z.png) ### Table of Formats Date and Times can be represented in any way you want by combining the variables in the following table. The Date & Time Helper connector supports time zones that are natively recognized by the JavaScript **Date** function, such as UTC, EST, and other standard time zone abbreviations. | | Token | Output | | ------------------------------ | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------- | | **Year** | YY | 70 71 ... 29 30 | | | YYYY | 1970 1971 ... 2029 2030 | | **Quarter** | Q | 1 2 3 4 | | | Qo | 1st 2nd 3rd 4th | | **Month** | M | 1 2 ... 11 12 | | | Mo | 1st 2nd ... 11th 12th | | | MM | 01 02 ... 11 12 | | | MMM | Jan Feb ... Nov Dec | | | MMMM | January February ... November December | | **Week of Year** | W | 1 2 ... 52 53 | | | Wo | 1st 2nd ... 52nd 53rd | | | WW | 01 02 ... 52 53 | | **Day of Year** | DDD | 1 2 ... 364 365 | | | DDDo | 1st 2nd ... 364th 365th | | | DDDD | 001 002 ... 364 365 | | **Day of Month** | D | 1 2 ... 30 31 | | | Do | 1st 2nd ... 30th 31st | | | DD | 01 02 ... 30 31 | | **Day of Week** | d | 0 1 ... 5 6 | | | E | 1 2 ... 6 7 | | | do | 0th 1st ... 5th 6th | | | dd | Su Mo ... Fr Sa | | | ddd | Sun Mon ... Fri Sat | | | dddd | Sunday Monday ... Friday Saturday | | **AM/PM** | A | AM PM | | | a | am pm | | **Hour** | H | 0 1 ... 22 23 | | | HH | 00 01 ... 22 23 | | | h | 1 2 ... 11 12 | | | hh | 01 02 ... 11 12 | | | k | 1 2 ... 23 24 | | | kk | 01 02 ... 23 24 | | **Minute** | m | 0 1 ... 58 59 | | | mm | 00 01 ... 58 59 | | **Second** | s | 0 1 ... 8 9 | | | ss | 00 01 ... 58 59 | | **Fractional Second** | S | 0 1 ... 8 9 | | | SS | 00 01 ... 98 99 | | | SSS | 000 0001 ... 998 999 | | | SSSS ... SSSSSSSSS | 000\[0..] 001\[0..] ... 998\[0..] 999\[0..] | | **Time Zone** | z or zz | EST CST ... MST PST | | | Z | -07:00 -06:00 ... +06:00 +07:00 | | | ZZ | -0700 -0600 ... +0600 +0700 | | **Unix Timestamp** | X | 1360013296 | | **Unix Millisecond Timestamp** | x | 1360013296123 | ## Important notes ### Comparisons Please remember that you either need to compare two times or two dates. You cannot compare a date to a time. ![datevsdate](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/68osA9CHsWqZMVb7ZiyjzH_datevsdate.png) The boolean helper can help you compare two date \*\*strings \*\*should the issue arise. ![datetime-boolean-compare](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/4lxqgquplREgHoI1p24oGd_datetime-boolean-compare.png) #### Comparison example Below is a simple walkthrough of how you can use the Date & Time Helper to compare timestamps within your workflow. ![datetime-wf-complete](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/6OpKsoNc5eFyd2BR4WFTPt_datetime-wf-complete.png) ### 1 - Format current time Beginning by using the Scheduled trigger would be a more likely scenario but for the sake of testing purposes here we use the Manual trigger. This sets step the formatting style for the comparison. ![datetime-1](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/14XkyytsFIX7EofU5MsuYR_datetime-1.png) ### 2 - Less than 13 hours? This is where the parameters for the time comparison are set and would be edited to suit your use case. ![datetime-2](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/70XjjsPCd24F3NC3s1HIuK_datetime-2.png) ### 3 - Compare your date/times The boolean compares your two date/times and the result is either true or false. ![datetime-3](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/4xFBFp0gbcO08t55ViAQkb_datetime-3.png) ### 4 - Result With the comparison made you would follow through with your workflow actions accordingly. Here we use the Data Storage connector to simply state the facts. ![datetime-4](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/447ekC6vMTUveGTVtiqM6E_datetime-4.png) ## Operations ### Get current timestamp Gets the current date and time in the format of your choosing. You can create a custom format if preferred. ![current-time](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/4HNlPBdRypT0IFq08UcSzN_current-time.png) ### Get day of the week Retrieves the day of the week from the date specified in the format of your choosing. ![current-time](https://tray.ai/documentation/images/connectors/helper/date-time-helper/4dwSNxOGePqj4AEjV5zGJ8_dayofweek.png)