mt (mask time)

mt (mask time)


ms (mask alter sort) Index Level must input
Syntax mt{{h}{s}}
Category Processing Codes
Type Processing Code
Description invokes the time conversion function to convert external time representations to internal format or to convert internal time values to one of a variety of external time formats.

The "internal" time format is the number of seconds from midnight. The "external" time is 24-hour military format (e.g., 23:25:59) or 12-hour format (e.g., 11:25:59PM).

For input-conversion, the time is entered with 'AM' or 'PM' immediately following the numeric time. If none is entered, 'AM' is assumed. On output, 'AM' or 'PM' is always printed immediately following the numeric time.

Note: "12:00AM" is considered midnight. "12:00PM" is considered noon. 'AM' and 'PM' are ignored on input if the "mt" code is specified. Illegal values are converted to null on input.

When used as an input-conversion, the "mt" code validates the time and converts it to the internal format of seconds from midnight. When updating a field controlled by an "mt" conversion, the "/" (slash) character can be used to insert the current time into the attribute.

"h" specifies a 12 hour clock. Default is (military) 24 hour clock.

"s" includes seconds in output value. If "s" is omitted, seconds are not listed on output.
Options
See Also ICONV external format internal format conv.expression TIMEDATE TIME output-conversion processing codes output-conversion input-conversion correlative processing codes (adi) Processing Codes
Example data   conversion   ouput

3600     mt         01:00
3600     mth        01:00am
3600     mts        01:00:00
3600     mths       01:00:00am
46800    mt         13:00
46800    mth        01:00pm
3630     mts        01:00:30
46800    mths       01:00:00pm
Warnings In AP/Native releases 5.2 and higher, a compatibility problem was corrected with the "mt" processing code which caused it not to accept times greater than 24 hours.
Compatibility D3 7.0 AP R83
ms (mask alter sort) Index Level must input