We saw how to build a custom date
format in our earlier post. Now let’s see how to build custom time formats.
Remember the coding table? I gave extract of time related codes here.
Let’s see how to code a custom
time format.
Display as 11:15:10 AM
We need code for
- A 2 digit hour
- 2 digit minute
- 2 digit second
- AM or PM
hh:mm:ss AM/PM
Display Only Hours or Minutes or Seconds
You will just have either hh or mm or ss in the code as per your need.
But the problem in the above format
is that you will see only hours equal to or less than 23, minutes equal to or less
than 59 and seconds equal to or less than 59. Once the seconds cross 59, it will
become 0 and minutes will be increased by 1. When minutes count crosses 59, it
will become 0 and hours will be increased by 1. Similarly, when hours cross 23,
it will become 0 and days count will be increased by 1.
If you just want to see the total
hours (like 38 hours), total minutes (like 75 minutes) or total seconds (like 145
seconds) between two date/time values: we shall enclose the respective
character in closed brackets. For example, if you want to see
how many hours elapsed between two date / time values, below will be the code.
[hh]:mm:ss
A comparison between different
formats is given below. In third row, I am trying to subtract second date from
first date.
Note that in third column, since
hours will not be added to days count even when it crosses 24 hours, you should
not have code to show days count. If you input day’s representative code, [hh] will be considered as hh only i.e. hours more than 24 will be
added to days count.
Accordingly, if you enclose minute’s
code in brackets, you should not have hour’s code; if you enclose second’s code
in brackets, you should not have hour’s and minute’s code.
In similar fashion, you can
arrive at number of minutes or number of seconds elapsed by enclosing those
codes in brackets.
Explore other combinations you
require. If you are not able to make up the one you want, just let me know.
Happy Learning!!
