Re: datetime handling in 4GL ( CHAR to DATETIME )

darredge wrote: > having trouble using datetime in 4GL ( 6.04.UC1 ) > > i am using a cursor to select a date column, and a time column > (char(8)) into variables and then want to combine these two > variables into a single datetime. > > how? Why? Or, more specifically, why are they separated, and why aren't they in DATETIME formats anyway? Oh well, too late, no doubt. > it doesnt seem to handle the time column, is there a trick to > converting a CHAR to a DATETIME Yes; think of it as an interval and not as a DATETIME. DEFINE x DATE DEFINE y CHAR(8) DEFINE dt1 DATETIME YEAR TO DAY DEFINE dt2 DATETIME YEAR TO SECOND DEFINE dt3 DATETIME HOUR TO SECOND LET x = MDY(2,29,2000) LET y = "23:59:59" LET dt1 = DATETIME(x) YEAR TO DAY LET dt2 = EXTEND(dt1, YEAR TO SECOND) + INTERVAL(y) YEAR TO SECOND Alternatively, if you must use DATETIME, LET dt3 = DATETIME(y) HOUR TO SECOND LET dt2 = EXTEND(dt1, YEAR TO SECOND) + (dt3 - DATETIME(0) SECOND TO SECOND) > i keep getting error -1262 Non-numeric character in datetime or > interval I haven't actually put the code above past a compiler, but it should be correct. -- Jonathan Leffler (jleffler@informix.com, jleffler@earthlink.net) Guardian of DBD::Informix -- see http://www.perl.com/CPAN #include <disclaimer.h>