Overview

Date functions in SnapLogic work similarly to JavaScript Date objects, where a Date represents the number of milliseconds since midnight January 1, 1970 UTC (the Unix epoch). The Date object provides methods for parsing, formatting, and manipulating date and time values in your pipelines.

Comparing Dates

Dates can be compared using the relational operators (>, >=, <, <=, ==). For example:

Date.parse("2011-10-10T14:48:00.123-08:00") > Date.parse("2011-10-10T12:48:00.123-08:00")  // true

// The following is true because a Date is a number of milliseconds since midnight January 1, 1970 UTC
Date.parse("2011-10-10T15:48:00.123-08:00") > 1318286880123  // true

Creating Date Objects

Date.now()

Returns the current datetime as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.SSS UTC. The results are of the date-time data type.

Syntax:

Date.now()

Example:

Date.now()  // Returns: 2017-02-21T21:34:22.025 UTC

Date.parse()

Parses a string representation of a date, and returns it as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.SSS that matches the server's timezone. The results are of the date-time data type.

Syntax:

Date.parse(dateString)
Date.parse(millisFromEpoch)
Date.parse(dateString, format)
Date.parse(dateNumber, format)

Parameters:

• dateString - A string representation of a date
• millisFromEpoch - Number of milliseconds from the epoch (Jan 1, 1970)
• format - Custom format string using Java SimpleDateFormat syntax
• dateNumber - A number to be converted to a string and parsed using the given format

Examples:

Date.parse(1445910469510)  // Returns: 2015-10-27T01:47:49.510 (in server's timezone)

Date.parse("2011 10 30", "yyyy MM dd")  // Returns: 2011-10-30T00:00:00.000

Date.parse($['System Modstamp'], "MM/dd/yyyy'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z'")  // Returns: 2015-04-15T13:23:10.000

Date.parse(20160923, "yyyyMMdd")  // Returns: 2016-09-23T00:00:00.000

Date.UTC()

Returns the date/time in universal time. The results are of the date-time data type.

Syntax:

Date.UTC(year, month, [day, hour, minute, second, millisecond])

Parameters:

• year - A year after 1900
• month - An integer between 0 and 11 representing the month
• day (optional) - An integer between 1 and 31 representing the day of the month
• hour (optional) - An integer between 0 and 23 representing the hours
• minute (optional) - An integer between 0 and 59 representing the minutes
• second (optional) - An integer between 0 and 59 representing the seconds
• millisecond (optional) - An integer between 0 and 999 representing the milliseconds

Example:

Date.UTC(2015, 7, 20, 13, 23, 12, 34)  // Returns: 2015-08-20T13:23:12.034 UTC

Local Date/Time Parsing

LocalDateTime.parse()

Returns the date in local time.

Syntax:

LocalDateTime.parse(dateString)

Example:

LocalDateTime.parse("2011-10-31")  // Returns: 2011-10-31T00:00:00.000

LocalDate.parse()

Returns the date in local time without time component.

Syntax:

LocalDate.parse(dateString)

Example:

LocalDate.parse("2011/10/31")  // Returns: 2011-10-31

LocalTime.parse()

Returns the time in local time without date component.

Syntax:

LocalTime.parse(timeString)

Example:

LocalTime.parse("23:42:00")  // Returns: 23:42:00.000

Getter Methods

The following methods extract specific components from a Date object according to local time unless noted otherwise.

Examples:

Date.parse("2014-09-22").getDate()  // Returns: 22
Date.parse("2014-09-22").getDay()  // Returns: 1 (Monday)
Date.now().getFullYear()  // Returns: 2017
Date.now().getHours()  // Returns: 21
Date.parse("2019-03-04T17:32:53.077 UTC").getMonth()  // Returns: 3

UTC Getter Methods

These methods return date components according to UTC time rather than local time.

Examples:

Date.parse("2019-03-04T17:32:53.077").getUTCDate()  // Returns: 4
Date.parse("2019-03-04T17:32:53.077").getUTCMonth()  // Returns: 3
Date.parse("2019-03-04T17:32:53.077").getUTCHours()  // Returns: 17
Date.parse("2019-03-04T17:32:53.077").getTimezoneOffset()  // Returns: 0

Conversion Methods

toString()

Returns a string representing the specified Date object.

Date.parse("2014-09-22").toString()  // Returns: 2014-09-22T00:00:00.000Z

toLocaleString()

Returns a string with a language-sensitive representation of the date and time.

Options:

• format - Format string using Java SimpleDateFormat syntax
• timeZone - Target time zone (Joda-Time Canonical ID)
• locale - Language tag (e.g., "en-US", "ar-EG", "fa-IR")

Date.now().toLocaleString({"locale":"ar-EG"})
Date.now().toLocaleString({"locale":"en-US"})

toLocaleDateString()

Returns a string with a language-sensitive representation of the date portion only.

Date.now().toLocaleDateString()  // Returns: 2014-09-22
Date.now().toLocaleDateString({"format":"MM-dd-yyyy"})  // Returns: 09-22-2014
Date.now().toLocaleDateString({"locale":"ar-EG"})

toLocaleDateTimeString()

Returns a string with a language-sensitive representation combining date and time.

Date.parse("2024-03-29").toLocaleDateTimeString()  // Returns: 2024-03-29T00:00:00.000

Date.parse("2024-03-28T16:23:59.825").toLocaleDateTimeString({
  "timeZone":"US/Eastern",
  "format":"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm a"
})  // Returns: 2024-03-28 12:23 PM

toLocaleTimeString()

Returns a string with a language-sensitive representation of the time portion only.

Date.parse("2014-09-22").toLocaleTimeString()  // Returns: 00:00:00.000
Date.now().toLocaleTimeString({"locale":"en-US"})

Best Practices

• Time Zones: Always be explicit about time zones when parsing or formatting dates. Use UTC for data exchange between systems.
• Format Consistency: Use consistent date formats throughout your pipeline to avoid parsing errors.
• Database Compatibility: Be aware of database-specific date formats. See Database Date Types documentation for details.
• Month Indexing: Remember that getMonth() returns 1-12 in SnapLogic, but JavaScript uses 0-11. Use getMonthFromZero() for JavaScript compatibility.
• Immutability: Date objects are immutable. Operations return new Date objects rather than modifying the original.
• Custom Formats: Use Java SimpleDateFormat syntax for custom date formatting. Reference Joda-Time DateTimeFormat for full details.
• Locale Support: Leverage locale options for internationalization rather than manually formatting dates for different regions.

Common Patterns

Current Timestamp:

Date.now()  // Current datetime in UTC

Parse Custom Format:

Date.parse($dateField, "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss")

Format for Display:

Date.now().toLocaleDateString({"format":"MMMM dd, yyyy"})

Convert to Unix Timestamp:

Date.now().getTime()  // Milliseconds since epoch

Compare Dates:

$expirationDate > Date.now() ? "Active" : "Expired"

Extract Components:

// Get year, month, day from a date
{
  "year": $myDate.getFullYear(),
  "month": $myDate.getMonth(),
  "day": $myDate.getDate()
}

Time Zone Conversion:

$utcDate.toLocaleDateTimeString({
  "timeZone": "America/New_York",
  "format": "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss z"
})