Time Difference Help

  • Hey everyone,

    I'm looking to see how long it took someone to complete a task, but I'm unable to figure out how to basically get a 'hours:minutes' difference between the 2 datetime fields.

    OPENDATE-ASSNDATE

    I'd like the layout to be something like 00:00. I tried using datediff but I"m having trouble with it. I see many examples where the value is static but nothing with a field value. I'm inexperienced with SQL scripts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    Steve

  • This can get a little bit tricky when the dates span multiple days. If they are within the same day you can use something like this. It will actually work for dates spanning multiple days, it will just increment the hours to more than 24.

    declare @StartDate datetime = '05-02-2014 01:00:00'

    declare @EndDate datetime = '05-02-2014 19:12:33'

    select right('00' + cast(DATEDIFF(HOUR, @StartDate, @EndDate) as varchar), 2) + ':' +

    right('00' + CAST(DATEDIFF(MINUTE, @StartDate, @EndDate) as varchar) % 60, 2) + ':' +

    right('00' + cast(DATEDIFF(SECOND, @StartDate, @EndDate) % 60 as varchar), 2) as [HH:MM:SS]

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  • DECLARE @t1 DATETIME = '2014-05-02 10:30:43';

    DECLARE @t2 DATETIME = '2014-05-02 14:25:13';

    -- Show the time difference in HH:MM:SS (assumes timespan < 24 hours)

    PRINT CONVERT(CHAR(8), @t2 - @t1, 8)

    -- Shrink to HH:MM - value is truncated, not rounded to nearest minute

    PRINT CONVERT(CHAR(5), @t2 - @t1, 8)

    -- Round the minutes by adding 30 seconds

    PRINT CONVERT(CHAR(5), DATEADD(SECOND, 30, @t2 - @t1), 8)

    -- Casting the timespan to TIME allows using CAST(time AS CHAR) instead of CONVERT(CHAR, datetime, 8)

    PRINT CAST(CAST(DATEADD(SECOND, 30, @t2 - @t1) AS TIME) AS CHAR(5))

    -- Handle timespans over 24 hours as HHH:MM ( up to about 68 years )

    -- Using DATEDIFF(MINUTE, @t1, @t2) will also run into rounding issues, so use seconds and add 30

    DECLARE @mins INT = (DATEDIFF(SECOND, @t1, @t2) + 30) / 60;

    PRINT CASE WHEN @mins < 600 THEN '0' ELSE '' END + LTRIM(@mins / 60) + ':' + LTRIM(@mins % 60)

  • SELECT

    OPENDATE, ASSNDATE,

    CAST(minutes_diff / 60 AS varchar(3)) + ':' +

    RIGHT('0' + CAST(minutes_diff % 60 AS varchar(2)), 2) AS Date_Diff

    FROM (

    SELECT GETDATE() AS OPENDATE, DATEADD(MINUTE, -9, GETDATE()) AS ASSNDATE UNION ALL -- lt 60 mins

    SELECT GETDATE(), DATEADD(MINUTE, -196, GETDATE()) UNION ALL -- gt 60 mins, lt 24 hrs

    SELECT GETDATE(), DATEADD(MINUTE, -(24*60+112), GETDATE()) -- gt 24 hrs

    ) AS test_data

    CROSS APPLY (

    SELECT DATEDIFF(MINUTE, ASSNDATE, OPENDATE) AS minutes_diff

    ) AS assign_alias_names_to_calculated_values_1

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".

  • Hi Everyone thanks for the replies.

    For the first 2, I'm not using static dates as per your queries.

    Scott, your query is just casting values for actual field values. OPENDATE and ASSGNDATE are actual fields in a task table. When I run that query I get 3 returned records based solely on the SELECT GETDATE.

    The output is based on the current time:

    ASSNDATE OPENDATE Date_Diff

    2014-05-05 09:29:30.8332014-05-05 09:38:30.8330:09

    2014-05-05 06:22:30.8332014-05-05 09:38:30.8333:16

    2014-05-04 07:46:30.8332014-05-05 09:38:30.83325:52

    I need to do this on every record in the table (minus anything that's not being worked on). Suggestions?

  • Steve-0 (5/5/2014)


    Hi Everyone thanks for the replies.

    For the first 2, I'm not using static dates as per your queries.

    Scott, your query is just casting values for actual field values. OPENDATE and ASSGNDATE are actual fields in a task table. When I run that query I get 3 returned records based solely on the SELECT GETDATE.

    The output is based on the current time:

    ASSNDATE OPENDATE Date_Diff

    2014-05-05 09:29:30.8332014-05-05 09:38:30.8330:09

    2014-05-05 06:22:30.8332014-05-05 09:38:30.8333:16

    2014-05-04 07:46:30.8332014-05-05 09:38:30.83325:52

    I need to do this on every record in the table (minus anything that's not being worked on). Suggestions?

    That was just to provide sample data. Naturally you should replace:

    FROM (

    SELECT GETDATE() AS OPENDATE, DATEADD(MINUTE, -9, GETDATE()) AS ASSNDATE UNION ALL -- lt 60 mins

    SELECT GETDATE(), DATEADD(MINUTE, -196, GETDATE()) UNION ALL -- gt 60 mins, lt 24 hrs

    SELECT GETDATE(), DATEADD(MINUTE, -(24*60+112), GETDATE()) -- gt 24 hrs

    ) AS test_data

    with your own table name, like

    FROM dbo.your_table_name

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".

  • The static dates are just examples. Substitute the correct column names.

    Shifting gears, to get the duration between two DATETIME datatypes, just subtract the smaller of the two from the larger of the two and format the result the way you want with CONVERT (good enough for durations < 24 hours) and other tricks (necessary if you have durations >= 24 hours.

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  • Where do I input the table reference (TASKS) as the FROM is a SELECT statement?

    Thanks again everyone for helping me in my nubness. People like you guys make support forums

    completely relevant!

    Steve

  • SELECT TOP (1000) --remove after testing!

    t.OPENDATE, t.ASSNDATE,

    CAST(minutes_diff / 60 AS varchar(3)) + ':' +

    RIGHT('0' + CAST(minutes_diff % 60 AS varchar(2)), 2) AS Date_Diff

    FROM dbo.Tasks t

    CROSS APPLY (

    SELECT DATEDIFF(MINUTE, t.ASSNDATE, t.OPENDATE) AS minutes_diff

    ) AS assign_alias_names_to_calculated_values_1

    SQL DBA,SQL Server MVP(07, 08, 09) "It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear." "Norm", on "Cheers". Also from "Cheers", from "Carla": "You need to know 3 things about Tortelli men: Tortelli men draw women like flies; Tortelli men treat women like flies; Tortelli men's brains are in their flies".

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