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Convert character field to Time

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    Convert character field to Time

    Hello,

    I have several tables that contain character fields that need to be converted to time fields.

    ex: 14:41:26 to 2:41:26pm

    When I tried changing the structure of the field to time, it displayed the time(14:41:26) as such: 00/00/0000 13:23:42 13 pm. Which is incorrect.

    There must be a script I can write to fix this I hope.

    Any help is appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Dave

    #2
    Re: Convert character field to Time

    Try

    Code:
    ctot("14:41:26")
    Tom Baker

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Convert character field to Time

      Tom,

      Thanks, but that only works if the field is a time field already. The field is currently in character format.

      When I change the field structure to "short time", it creates a time that is not correct.

      ex: 14:41:26 should show up as 2:41pm. But, when I change the field structure to "short time", it changes it to 13:23:42 13 pm.

      Dave

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Convert character field to Time

        Dave

        The ctot() function converts a character representation into a short time representation.

        Your example showed a character time representation.

        if you go to interactive and type

        ?ctot("14:41:26")

        it will return a time field equivalent of 2:41.26PM

        Maybe I misunderstood what you wanted.

        Tom Baker

        edit: Dave are you trying to convert the field in a table that is a character representation of a time value to a short time value by changing the table structure for that field from character to time?
        Last edited by Tbaker; 06-19-2008, 11:31 AM. Reason: New question

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Convert character field to Time

          "Dave are you trying to convert the field in a table that is a character representation of a time value to a short time value by changing the table structure for that field from character to time?"

          Yes Tom, exactly.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Convert character field to Time

            Dave,
            how about you add a new field to your table (tablename) as a Time field (t_field_name). Run the following script and then rename the time field after removing the character field (c_field_name).

            Code:
            dim tbl as P
            dim vcT as C 
            	
            	tbl = table.open("[COLOR="red"]tablename[/COLOR]")
            	query.filter = ""
            	query.order=""
            	query.options=""
            	tbl.query_create()
            	
            	tbl.fetch_first()
            	while .NOT. tbl.fetch_eof()
            		vcT = tbl.[COLOR="Red"]c_field_name[/COLOR]
            	tbl.change_begin()
            		tbl.[COLOR="red"]t_field_name [/COLOR]= ctot(vcT)
            	tbl.change_end(.t.)
            	tbl.fetch_next()
            	end while
            	tbl.close()
            Mike W
            __________________________
            "I rebel in at least small things to express to the world that I have not completely surrendered"

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Convert character field to Time

              Mike,

              I ran the following code but all it did was delete all of the data in the character field.

              Did I key it in wrong?

              Thanks,
              Dave

              dim tbl as P
              dim vcT as C

              tbl = table.open("gate ab first and last 6_1_2008")
              query.filter = ""
              query.order=""
              query.options=""
              tbl.query_create()

              tbl.fetch_first()
              while .NOT. tbl.fetch_eof()
              vcT = tbl.diff
              tbl.change_begin()
              tbl.first_read = ctot(vcT)
              tbl.change_end(.t.)
              tbl.fetch_next()
              end while
              tbl.close()

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Convert character field to Time

                Scratch that Mike. I had the fields mixed up. It appeared to work. Thanks. Now I'm trying to calculate the difference in time between the two new fields I created.

                Dave

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Convert character field to Time

                  Is there a simple function I can run to get the time difference. I had two character fields with timestamps in them. I want to now find the time difference between the two.

                  ex. last_read - first_read = 2:30(two hours and 30 minutes)

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Convert character field to Time

                    Try looking here:

                    http://support.alphasoftware.com/alp..._Functions.htm

                    The HELP is your friend!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Convert character field to Time

                      Thanks Doug. But I've been looking in Help for two plus days with no real specific luck. So, I thought I would post my question.

                      Dave

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Convert character field to Time

                        Dave

                        This is not an answer to your question but it would be better to post this as a new thread. I think that will get you some answers.

                        Tom Baker

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Convert character field to Time

                          Thanks Tom.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Convert character field to Time

                            Dave,

                            Your question seemed to change a bit when you started a new thread but to answer your question you posted in this thread if your two time fields were defined short time then by subtracting the two fields you will get the result in seconds.

                            Below is a sample of taking two time variables in character form, converting them to a short time and subtracting them and converting the result into hours and minutes. The totime function has several format options to return the result.

                            Hope this helps.

                            Jeff

                            Code:
                            dim start as c = "09:50 am"
                            dim stop as c = "11:05 am"
                            
                            ?totime(ctot(stop) - ctot(start),1,0)
                            = "1:15"
                            Jeff Ryder

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Convert character field to Time

                              The first section of the help link is all on doing arithmetic with time and dates. Thought it would be good for you to review.

                              Doug

                              Comment

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