Calculating time periods
You can calculate differences between columns containing points of time to retrieve time periods. The result can be expressed in various units of time.
For example, the data table below contains start and completion dates for some projects, and you might be interested in how many days each project lasted. Then you can calculate the length of each time period between the start date and the completion date.
As a start, a scatter plot is created with one marker per project.
Procedure
Calculating time periods between time points and today
Sometimes, the time period between a certain time and today is of interest. For example, if a data column contains dates of birth for individuals, their current ages can be calculated. The DateTimeNow()function retrieves the current time in an expression.
In another example, the
DateTimeNow() function is used to identify invoices that are urgent to pay, because their due dates are passed. The data used is shown below.
If you apply the expression
DateDiff("day",DateTimeNow(),[Due date]), negative differences indicate passed due dates.
The expression is used in the scatter plot below on the 6th of May 2015, and two invoices, I-123 and I-126, with passed due dates are found.