DMY, MDY, YMD: Calculating the Difference Between Two Dates

Syntax: How to Calculate the Difference Between Two Dates

function(from_date, to_date)

where:

function

Is one of the following:

DMY calculates the difference between two dates in day-month-year format.

MDY calculates the difference between two dates in month-day-year format.

YMD calculates the difference between two dates in year-month-day format.

from_date

I, P, or A format with date display options.

Is the beginning legacy date, or the name of a field that contains the date.

to_date

I, P, or A format with date display options.I6xxx or I8xxx where xxx corresponds to the specified function (DMY, YMD, or MDY).

Is the end date, or the name of a field that contains the date.

Example: Calculating the Number of Days Between Two Dates

YMD calculates the number of days between the dates in HIRE_DATE and DAT_INC:

TABLE FILE EMPLOYEE
SUM HIRE_DATE FST.DAT_INC AS 'FIRST PAY,INCREASE' AND COMPUTE
DIFF/I4 = YMD(HIRE_DATE, FST.DAT_INC); AS 'DAYS,BETWEEN'
BY LAST_NAME BY FIRST_NAME
WHERE DEPARTMENT EQ 'MIS';
END

The output is:

LAST_NAME

FIRST_NAME

HIRE_DATE

FIRST
PAY INCREASE

DAYS BETWEEN

BLACKWOOD
CROSS
GREENSPAN
JONES
MCCOY
SMITH

ROSEMARIE
BARBARA
MARY
DIANE
JOHN
MARY

82/04/01
81/11/02
82/04/01
82/05/01
81/07/01
81/07/01

82/04/01
82/04/09
82/06/11
82/06/01
82/01/01
82/01/01