SPSS Date Time Functions

While dates and times are simply a formatted numeric data type in SPSS, a set of built-in functions are offered for these variables.

To clarify, these functions operate at case level. They do not perform higher-level computations.

Date

The DATE function returns a date value.

compute jan_2_3000 = date.mdy(1, 2, 3000)

Datediff

The DATEDIFF function subtracts a date or time from another, returning an integer in terms of the specified unit.

num_days = datediff(date1,date2,"days")

Valid units include:

• "years"

• "quarters"

• "months"

• "weeks"

• "days"

• "hours"

• "minutes"

• "seconds"

Note that the returned value is floored using the specified unit.

Datesum

The DATESUM function adds some number of units to a date or time, returning a new date or time.

month_ago = datesum(date1,-1,"months")

Reference the above list for valid values of the third argument.

Time

The TIME function returns a time value.

compute two_thirty = time.hms(2, 30, 0)

Xdate

The XDATE function extracts a component of a date or time value.

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