Date and time data types (DATE, TIME, and TIMESTAMP)

Synopsis

Use datetime data types to specify data of date and time at a time zone, DATE for a specific date, TIME for time of day, and TIMESTAMP for the combination of both date and time.

Syntax

type_specification ::= TIMESTAMP | DATE | TIME

Semantics

  • Columns of type DATE, TIME and TIMESTAMP can be part of the PRIMARY KEY.
  • Implicitly, values of datetime types cannot be converted or compared to other data types.
  • Values of integer and text data types with the correct format (given above) are convertible to datetime types.
  • Supported timestamp range is from year 1900 to year 9999.
  • The default value for hour, minute, second, and millisecond components is 0.
  • The default time zone is UTC.

DATE

A date is represented using a 32-bit unsigned integer representing the number of days since epoch (January 1, 1970) with no corresponding time value. Use INSERT or UPDATE to add values as an integer (days since epoch) or in the string format shown below.

Syntax

yyyy-mm-dd
  • yyyy: four digit year.
  • mm: two digit month.
  • dd: two digit day.

For example, 2020-07-29.

TIME

Values of the time data type are encoded as 64-bit signed integers representing the number of nanoseconds since midnight with no corresponding date value.

Use INSERT or UPDATE to add values in the following string format, where subseconds (f) are optional and if provided, can be less than nanosecond:

Syntax

hh:mm:ss[.fffffffff]
  • hh: two digit hour, using a 24-hour clock.
  • mm: two digit minutes.
  • ss: two digit seconds.
  • fffffffff: (Optional) three digit sub-seconds, or nanoseconds. When excluded, set to 0.

For example, 12:34:56 or 12:34:56.789 or 12:34:56.123456789.

TIMESTAMP

Values of the timestamp data type combines date, time, and time zone, in ISO 8601 format.

Use INSERT or UPDATE to add values in the string format shown below, where milliseconds (f) are optional.

Syntax

yyyy-mm-dd[ (T| )HH:MM[:SS][.fff]][(+|-)NNNN]

Required date (yyyy-mm-dd) where:

  • yyyy: four digit year.
  • mm: two digit month.
  • dd: two digit day.

Optional time (HH:MM[:SS][.fff]) where:

  • HH: two digit hour, using a 24-hour clock.
  • MM: two digit minutes.
  • SS: (Optional) two digit seconds.
  • fff: (Optional) three digit sub-seconds, or milliseconds. When excluded, set to 0.

Optional time zone ((+|-)NNNN) where:

  • +|-: Add or subtract the NNNN from GMT
  • NNNN: The 4-digit time zone (RFC 822). For example, +0000 is GMT and -0800 is PST.

NNNN is the RFC-822 4-digit time zone, for example +0000 is GMT and -0800 is PST.

For example, for July 29, 2020 midnight PST, valid timestamp values include 2020-07-29 12:34:56.789+0000, 2020-07-29 12:34:56.789, 2020-07-29 12:34:56, and 2020-07-29.

Examples

Using the date and time types

ycqlsh:example> CREATE TABLE orders(customer_id INT, order_date DATE, order_time TIME, amount DECIMAL, PRIMARY KEY ((customer_id), order_date, order_time));

Date and time values can be inserted using currentdate and currenttime standard functions.

ycqlsh:example> INSERT INTO orders(customer_id, order_date, order_time, amount) VALUES (1, currentdate(), currenttime(), 85.99);

ycqlsh:example> INSERT INTO orders(customer_id, order_date, order_time, amount) VALUES (1, currentdate(), currenttime(), 34.15);

ycqlsh:example> INSERT INTO orders(customer_id, order_date, order_time, amount) VALUES (2, currentdate(), currenttime(), 55.45);

ycqlsh:example> SELECT * FROM orders;

 customer_id | order_date | order_time         | amount
-------------+------------+--------------------+--------
           1 | 2018-10-09 | 17:12:25.824094000 |  85.99
           1 | 2018-10-09 | 17:12:56.350031000 |  34.15
           2 | 2018-10-09 | 17:13:15.203633000 |  55.45

Date values can be given using date-time literals.

ycqlsh:example> SELECT sum(amount) FROM orders WHERE customer_id = 1 AND order_date = '2018-10-09';

 system.sum(amount)
--------------------
             120.14

Using the timestamp type

You can do this as shown below.

ycqlsh:example> CREATE TABLE sensor_data(sensor_id INT, ts TIMESTAMP, value FLOAT, PRIMARY KEY(sensor_id, ts));

Timestamp values can be given using date-time literals.

ycqlsh:example> INSERT INTO sensor_data(sensor_id, ts, value) VALUES (1, '2017-07-04 12:30:30 UTC', 12.5);

ycqlsh:example> INSERT INTO sensor_data(sensor_id, ts, value) VALUES (1, '2017-07-04 12:31 UTC', 13.5);

Timestamp values can also be given as integers (milliseconds from epoch).

ycqlsh:example> INSERT INTO sensor_data(sensor_id, ts, value) VALUES (2, 1499171430000, 20);

ycqlsh:example> SELECT * FROM sensor_data;

 sensor_id | ts                              | value
-----------+---------------------------------+-------
         2 | 2017-07-04 12:30:30.000000+0000 |    20
         1 | 2017-07-04 12:30:30.000000+0000 |  12.5
         1 | 2017-07-04 12:31:00.000000+0000 |  13.5

Supported timestamp literals

'1992-06-04 12:30'
'1992-6-4 12:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30.321'
'1992-6-4 12:30.12'
'1992-06-04 12:30.321+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30.12-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30.321 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30.12 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30:45'
'1992-6-4 12:30:45'
'1992-06-04 12:30:45+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30:45-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30:45 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30:45 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30:45.321'
'1992-6-4 12:30:45.12'
'1992-06-04 12:30:45.321+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30:45.12-04:30'
'1992-06-04 12:30:45.321 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4 12:30:45.12 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30'
'1992-6-4T12:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30TUTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30.321'
'1992-6-4T12:30.12'
'1992-06-04T12:30.321+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30.12-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30.321 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30.12 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30:45'
'1992-6-4T12:30:45'
'1992-06-04T12:30:45+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30:45-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30:45 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30:45 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30:45.321'
'1992-6-4T12:30:45.12'
'1992-06-04T12:30:45.321+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30:45.12-04:30'
'1992-06-04T12:30:45.321 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4T12:30:45.12 UTC-04:30'
'1992-06-04'
'1992-6-4'
'1992-06-04+04:00'
'1992-6-4-04:30'
'1992-06-04 UTC+04:00'
'1992-6-4 UTC-04:30'

See also