DateTime

Description

A class containing functions for getting and manipulating dates and times.

This DateTime class allows you to create and manipulate dates and times that are stored as FlexSim time. FlexSim time is defined as the number of seconds since January 1st, 1601. The specified Model Time Units does not affect FlexSim time. It is always in seconds.

Model Settings

When you start a new model, you can specify the start date and time of the model. That, and model stop times, can later be changed through the Run Time Options on the Simulation Control Bar. You can also specify the date and time display format in the Model Settings window. These formats can be used when displaying a DateTime as a string or for creating a DateTime.

Excel Import/Export

When you import dates and times from an Excel document, you can do so as either strings or as numbers which are in Excel time. This DateTime class can be used to convert those strings or Excel time into FlexSim time. For exporting, you can write formatted dates and/or times to a global table using the DateTime.toString() method.

Dashboard Charts

Dashboard charts like the Time Plot can use FlexSim time to display the dates and times along the X or Y axis. This can be done by recording DateTimes in a Statistics Collector.

Properties

day	The day of the month
dayOfWeek	The day of the week
hour	The hour of the day
millisecond	The millisecond of the second.
minute	The minute of the hour.
month	The month of the year
second	The second of the minute.
totalDays	The number of days since January 1st, 1601.
totalHours	The number of hours since January 1st, 1601.
totalMilliseconds	The number of milliseconds since January 1st, 1601.
totalMinutes	The number of minutes since January 1st, 1601.
totalSeconds	The number of seconds since January 1st, 1601.
value	The value of the date and time in FlexSim time.
year	The year

Methods

toString

Converts the DateTime into a human readable string.

Constructor

DateTime

Constructs a DateTime.

Static Methods

compose	Constructs a new DateTime from component parts.
days	Constructs a new DateTime from the number of days.
fromExcelTime	Converts Excel time into FlexSim time.
hours	Constructs a new DateTime from the number of hours.
milliseconds	Constructs a new DateTime from the number of milliseconds.
minutes	Constructs a new DateTime from the number of minutes.
seconds	Constructs a new DateTime from the number of seconds.

Operators

-	Substracts one DateTime from another.
!=	Compares two DateTimes.
+	Adds two DateTimes together.
+=	Assigns the DateTime to be the sum of two DateTimes.
<	Compares two DateTimes.
<=	Compares two DateTimes.
-=	Assigns the DateTime to be the difference of two DateTimes.
==	Compares two DateTimes.
>	Compares two DateTimes.
>=	Compares two DateTimes.

Details

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DateTime.day

readonly double day

Description

The day of the month

Value ranges from 1 to 31. double currentDay = Model.dateTime.day;

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DateTime.dayOfWeek

readonly double dayOfWeek

Description

The day of the week

Value ranges from 1 to 7 with 1 being Sunday. double currentDayOfWeek = Model.dateTime.dayOfWeek;

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DateTime.hour

readonly double hour

Description

The hour of the day

Value ranges from 0 to 23 with the 0 hour being from 12:00:00AM to 12:59:59AM. double currentHour = Model.dateTime.hour;

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DateTime.millisecond

readonly double millisecond

Description

The millisecond of the second.

Value ranges from 0 to 999. double currentMillisecond = Model.dateTime.millisecond;

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DateTime.minute

readonly double minute

Description

The minute of the hour.

Value ranges from 0 to 59. double currentMinute = Model.dateTime.minute;

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DateTime.month

readonly double month

Description

The month of the year

Value ranges from 1 to 12. double currentMonth = Model.dateTime.month;

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DateTime.second

readonly double second

Description

The second of the minute.

Value ranges from 0 to 59. double currentSecond = Model.dateTime.second;

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DateTime.totalDays

readonly double totalDays

Description

The number of days since January 1st, 1601.

This will return a floating point number where the fraction represents the time into the current day. double totalDays = Model.dateTime.totalDays;

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DateTime.totalHours

readonly double totalHours

Description

The number of hours since January 1st, 1601.

This will return a floating point number where the fraction represents the time into the current hour. double totalHours = Model.dateTime.totalHours;

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DateTime.totalMilliseconds

readonly double totalMilliseconds

Description

The number of milliseconds since January 1st, 1601.

This will return a floating point number where the fraction represents the time into the current millisecond. double totalMilliseconds = Model.dateTime.totalMilliseconds;

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DateTime.totalMinutes

readonly double totalMinutes

Description

The number of minutes since January 1st, 1601.

This will return a floating point number where the fraction represents the time into the current minute. double totalMinutes = Model.dateTime.totalMinutes;

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DateTime.totalSeconds

readonly double totalSeconds

Description

The number of seconds since January 1st, 1601.

This is equivalent to DateTime.value or putting the DateTime into a double. double totalSeconds = Model.dateTime.totalSeconds;

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DateTime.value

readonly double value

Description

The value of the date and time in FlexSim time.

This property is equivalent to DateTime.totalSeconds or putting a DateTime into a double.


double currentTime = Model.dateTime.value;
double currentTime = Model.dateTime;

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DateTime.year

readonly double year

Description

The year

double currentYear = Model.dateTime.year;

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DateTime.toString()

string toString( string format = )

Parameters

format

If format is NULL, the default windows date/time format will be used.

Description

Converts the DateTime into a human readable string.

This method uses the windows settings for formatting. When using a custom format, the following formatting options are available:

Specifier	Explanation	Example
%%	A % character	%
%n	New line character
%t	Horizontal tab character
Year
%Y	The four digit year	2017
%y	The last two digits of the year	17
%C	The first two digits of the year	20
Month
%b	The abbreviated month name	Oct
%B	The full month name	October
%m	The month as a number (1 - 12)	10
Week
%U	The week of the year as a number with Sunday being the first day of the week (00 - 53)	15
%W	The week of the year as a number with Monday being the first day of the week (00 - 53)	15
Days of the year/month
%j	The day of the year as a three digit number (001 - 366)	045
%d	The day of the month as a two digit number (01 - 31)	05
%e	The day of the month as a single digit number (1 - 31)	5
Day of the week
%a	The abbreviated weekday name	Fri
%A	The full weekday name	Friday
%w	The weekday as a number where Sunday is 0 (0 - 6)	3
Hour, minute, second
%H	The hour as a two digit number, 24 hour clock (00 - 23)	08
%I	The hour as a two digit number, 12 hour clock (01 - 12)	08
%M	The minute as a two digit number (00 - 59)	30
%S	The second as a two digit number (00 - 60)	25
Other
%c	The standard date and time (windows default setting)	09/24/17 08:00:00
%x	The standard date (windows default setting)	09/24/17
%X	The standard time (windows default setting)	08:00:00
%D	Equivalent to %m/%d/%y	09/24/17
%F	Equivalent to %Y-%m-%d	2017-09-24
%r	The 12-hour clock time (based on windows setting)	08:00:00
%R	Equivalent to %H:%M	08:00
%T	Equivalent to %H:%M:%S	08:00:00
%p	AM or PM (based on windows setting)	AM
%z	The offset from UTC time	-0600
%Z	The time zone name or abbreviation	Mountain Daylight Time


string currentDateTime = Model.dateTime.toString();
string currentDateTime = Model.dateTime.toString("%H:%M:%S");

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DateTime Constructor

DateTime( double time )

DateTime( string date , string format = 0 )

DateTime( int days , int hours , int minutes = 0 , int seconds = 0 , int milliseconds = 0 )

Parameters

time	The number of seconds since January 1st, 1601.
date	The string representation of a date.
format	If format is NULL, the default windows date/time format will be used.
days	The number of days to add to the final DateTime
hours	The number of hours (usually less than 24) to add to the final DateTime
minutes	The number of minutes (usually less than 60) to add to the final DateTime
seconds	The number of seconds (usually less than 60) to add to the final DateTime
milliseconds	The number of milliseconds (usually less than 1000) to add to the final DateTime

Description

Constructs a DateTime.


DateTime theDate = DateTime(3600);

The time can be treated as a duration if you add two DateTimes together. For example,


DateTime futureDate = Model.dateTime + DateTime(340); //Add 340 seconds to the current model time

The second constructor can be used to create a DateTime from a string representation of a date. See toString() for formatting options.


DateTime theDate = DateTime("12/31/2019 8:00:00 AM", "%m/%d/%Y %I:%M:%S %p");

The third constructor can be used to create a DateTime that is rounded down to the nearset important marker. For example, if the current model time is between 8:00 and 9:00 on a particular day, you could use the following code to create a date time that represents 8:00 on that same day:


DateTime roundedToHour = DateTime(Model.dateTime.totalDays, Model.dateTime.hours);

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DateTime.compose()

static DateTime compose( int year , int month = 1 , int day = 1 , int hour = 0 , int minute = 0 , int second = 0 , int millisecond = 0 )

Parameters

year	The year of the DateTime
month	The month of the DateTime (1 - 12)
day	The day of the DateTime (1 - 28,29,30,31)
hour	The hour of the DateTime (0 - 23)
minute	The minute of the DateTime (0 - 59)
second	The second of the DateTime (0 - 59)
millisecond	The millisecond of the DateTime (0 - 999)

Description

Constructs a new DateTime from component parts.

DateTime composedDateTime = DateTime.compose(2019, 12, 31, 23, 59, 59);

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DateTime.days()

static DateTime days( double days )

Description

Constructs a new DateTime from the number of days.

DateTime oneDay = DateTime.days(1);

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DateTime.fromExcelTime()

static DateTime fromExcelTime( double excelTime )

Description

Converts Excel time into FlexSim time.

When performing an Excel Import, the Data Distinction can be set to Values Only. This will cause cells that store dates to be imported into FlexSim as numbers that are in Excel time. This method will convert that Excel time into FlexSim time. DateTime dateTime = DateTime.fromExcelTime(excelTime);

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DateTime.hours()

static DateTime hours( double hours )

Description

Constructs a new DateTime from the number of hours.

DateTime oneHour = DateTime.hours(1);

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DateTime.milliseconds()

static DateTime milliseconds( double milliseconds )

Description

Constructs a new DateTime from the number of milliseconds.

DateTime oneMillisecond = DateTime.milliseconds(1);

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DateTime.minutes()

static DateTime minutes( double minutes )

Description

Constructs a new DateTime from the number of minutes.

DateTime oneMinute = DateTime.minutes(1);

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DateTime.seconds()

static DateTime seconds( double seconds )

Description

Constructs a new DateTime from the number of seconds.

DateTime oneSecond = DateTime.seconds(1);

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DateTime.operator -

DateTime operator -( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to subtract from this DateTime.

Returns

DateTime

The resulting DateTime.

Description

Substracts one DateTime from another.


DateTime subTwoDates = Model.dateTime - dateTime;
DateTime subOneDay = Model.dateTime - DateTime.days(1);

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DateTime.operator !=

int operator !=( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to compare to this DateTime.

Returns

int

True if the two DateTimes are different, false otherwise.

Description

Compares two DateTimes.

int differentDates = dateTime != Model.dateTime;

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DateTime.operator +

DateTime operator +( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to add this one to.

Returns

DateTime

The resulting DateTime.

Description

Adds two DateTimes together.


DateTime addTwoDates = Model.dateTime + dateTime;
DateTime addOneDay = Model.dateTime + DateTime.days(1);

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DateTime.operator +=

DateTime operator +=( DateTime otherDateTime )

Parameters

otherDateTime

The DateTime to add to this one.

Returns

DateTime

The resulting DateTime.

Description

Assigns the DateTime to be the sum of two DateTimes.

thisDateTime += otherDateTime;

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DateTime.operator <

int operator <( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to compare to this DateTime.

Returns

int

True if this DateTime is less than other, false otherwise.

Description

Compares two DateTimes.

int pastDate = dateTime < Model.dateTime;

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DateTime.operator <=

int operator <=( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to compare to this DateTime.

Returns

int

True if this DateTime is less than or equal to other, false otherwise.

Description

Compares two DateTimes.

int pastDate = dateTime <= Model.dateTime;

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DateTime.operator -=

DateTime operator -=( DateTime otherDateTime )

Parameters

otherDateTime

The DateTime to subtract from this one.

Returns

DateTime

The resulting DateTime.

Description

Assigns the DateTime to be the difference of two DateTimes.

thisDateTime += otherDateTime;

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DateTime.operator ==

int operator ==( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to compare to this DateTime.

Returns

int

True if the two DateTimes are exactly the same, false otherwise.

Description

Compares two DateTimes.

int sameDate = dateTime == Model.dateTime;

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DateTime.operator >

int operator >( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to compare to this DateTime.

Returns

int

True if this DateTime is greater than other, false otherwise.

Description

Compares two DateTimes.

int futureDate = dateTime > Model.dateTime;

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DateTime.operator >=

int operator >=( DateTime other )

Parameters

other

The DateTime to compare to this DateTime.

Returns

int

True if this DateTime is greater than or equal to other, false otherwise.

Description

Compares two DateTimes.

int futureDate = dateTime >= Model.dateTime;