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Elastic Docs ›Elasticsearch Guide [7.6] ›SQL access ›Functions and Operators

Date/Time and Interval Functions and Operators

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Date/Time and Interval Functions and Operators

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Elasticsearch SQL offers a wide range of facilities for performing date/time manipulations.

Intervals

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A common requirement when dealing with date/time in general revolves around the notion of interval, a topic that is worth exploring in the context of Elasticsearch and Elasticsearch SQL.

Elasticsearch has comprehensive support for date math both inside index names and queries. Inside Elasticsearch SQL the former is supported as is by passing the expression in the table name, while the latter is supported through the standard SQL INTERVAL.

The table below shows the mapping between Elasticsearch and Elasticsearch SQL:

Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch SQL

Index/Table datetime math

<index-{now/M{YYYY.MM}}>

Query date/time math

1y

INTERVAL 1 YEAR

2M

INTERVAL 2 MONTH

3w

INTERVAL 21 DAY

4d

INTERVAL 4 DAY

5h

INTERVAL 5 HOUR

6m

INTERVAL 6 MINUTE

7s

INTERVAL 7 SECOND

INTERVAL allows either YEAR and MONTH to be mixed together or DAY, HOUR, MINUTE and SECOND.

Elasticsearch SQL accepts also the plural for each time unit (e.g. both YEAR and YEARS are valid).

Example of the possible combinations below:

Interval

Description

INTERVAL '1-2' YEAR TO MONTH

1 year and 2 months

INTERVAL '3 4' DAYS TO HOURS

3 days and 4 hours

INTERVAL '5 6:12' DAYS TO MINUTES

5 days, 6 hours and 12 minutes

INTERVAL '3 4:56:01' DAY TO SECOND

3 days, 4 hours, 56 minutes and 1 second

INTERVAL '2 3:45:01.23456789' DAY TO SECOND

2 days, 3 hours, 45 minutes, 1 second and 234567890 nanoseconds

INTERVAL '123:45' HOUR TO MINUTES

123 hours and 45 minutes

INTERVAL '65:43:21.0123' HOUR TO SECONDS

65 hours, 43 minutes, 21 seconds and 12300000 nanoseconds

INTERVAL '45:01.23' MINUTES TO SECONDS

45 minutes, 1 second and 230000000 nanoseconds

Operators

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Basic arithmetic operators (+, -, *) support date/time parameters as indicated below:

SELECT INTERVAL 1 DAY + INTERVAL 53 MINUTES AS result;

    result
---------------
+1 00:53:00
SELECT CAST('1969-05-13T12:34:56' AS DATETIME) + INTERVAL 49 YEARS AS result;

       result
--------------------
2018-05-13T12:34:56Z
SELECT - INTERVAL '49-1' YEAR TO MONTH result;

    result
---------------
-49-1
SELECT INTERVAL '1' DAY - INTERVAL '2' HOURS AS result;

    result
---------------
+0 22:00:00
SELECT CAST('2018-05-13T12:34:56' AS DATETIME) - INTERVAL '2-8' YEAR TO MONTH AS result;

       result
--------------------
2015-09-13T12:34:56Z
SELECT -2 * INTERVAL '3' YEARS AS result;

    result
---------------
-6-0

Functions

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Functions that target date/time.

CURRENT_DATE/CURDATE

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Synopsis:

CURRENT_DATE
CURRENT_DATE()
CURDATE()

Input: none

Output: date

Description: Returns the date (no time part) when the current query reached the server. It can be used both as a keyword: CURRENT_DATE or as a function with no arguments: CURRENT_DATE().

Unlike CURRENT_DATE, CURDATE() can only be used as a function with no arguments and not as a keyword.

This method always returns the same value for its every occurrence within the same query.

SELECT CURRENT_DATE AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12
SELECT CURRENT_DATE() AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12
SELECT CURDATE() AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12

Typically, this function (as well as its twin TODAY()) function is used for relative date filtering:

SELECT first_name FROM emp WHERE hire_date > TODAY() - INTERVAL 35 YEARS ORDER BY first_name ASC LIMIT 5;

 first_name
------------
Alejandro
Amabile
Anneke
Anoosh
Arumugam

CURRENT_TIME/CURTIME

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Synopsis:

CURRENT_TIME
CURRENT_TIME([precision]) 
CURTIME

Input:

fractional digits; optional

Output: time

Description: Returns the time when the current query reached the server. As a function, CURRENT_TIME() accepts precision as an optional parameter for rounding the second fractional digits (nanoseconds). The default precision is 3, meaning a milliseconds precision current time will be returned.

This method always returns the same value for its every occurrence within the same query.

SELECT CURRENT_TIME AS result;

         result
------------------------
12:31:27.237Z
SELECT CURRENT_TIME() AS result;

         result
------------------------
12:31:27.237Z
SELECT CURTIME() AS result;

         result
------------------------
12:31:27.237Z
SELECT CURRENT_TIME(1) AS result;

         result
------------------------
12:31:27.2Z

Typically, this function is used for relative date/time filtering:

SELECT first_name FROM emp WHERE CAST(hire_date AS TIME) > CURRENT_TIME() - INTERVAL 20 MINUTES ORDER BY first_name ASC LIMIT 5;

  first_name
---------------
Alejandro
Amabile
Anneke
Anoosh
Arumugam

Currently, using a precision greater than 3 doesn’t make any difference to the output of the function as the maximum number of second fractional digits returned is 3 (milliseconds).

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

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Synopsis:

CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP([precision])

Input:

fractional digits; optional

Output: date/time

Description: Returns the date/time when the current query reached the server. As a function, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() accepts precision as an optional parameter for rounding the second fractional digits (nanoseconds). The default precision is 3, meaning a milliseconds precision current date/time will be returned.

This method always returns the same value for its every occurrence within the same query.

SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12T14:48:52.448Z
SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12T14:48:52.448Z
SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP(1) AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12T14:48:52.4Z

Typically, this function (as well as its twin NOW()) function is used for relative date/time filtering:

SELECT first_name FROM emp WHERE hire_date > NOW() - INTERVAL 100 YEARS ORDER BY first_name ASC LIMIT 5;

  first_name
---------------
Alejandro
Amabile
Anneke
Anoosh
Arumugam

Currently, using a precision greater than 3 doesn’t make any difference to the output of the function as the maximum number of second fractional digits returned is 3 (milliseconds).

DATE_ADD/DATEADD/TIMESTAMP_ADD/TIMESTAMPADD

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Synopsis:

DATE_ADD(
    string_exp, 
    integer_exp, 
    datetime_exp)

Input:

string expression denoting the date/time unit to add to the date/datetime

integer expression denoting how many times the above unit should be added to/from the date/datetime, if a negative value is used it results to a subtraction from the date/datetime

date/datetime expression

Output: datetime

Description: Add the given number of date/time units to a date/datetime. If the number of units is negative then it’s subtracted from the date/datetime. If any of the three arguments is null a null is returned.

If the second argument is a long there is possibility of truncation since an integer value will be extracted and used from that long.

Datetime units to add/subtract

unit

abbreviations

year

years, yy, yyyy

quarter

quarters, qq, q

month

months, mm, m

dayofyear

dy, y

day

days, dd, d

week

weeks, wk, ww

weekday

weekdays, dw

hour

hours, hh

minute

minutes, mi, n

second

seconds, ss, s

millisecond

milliseconds, ms

microsecond

microseconds, mcs

nanosecond

nanoseconds, ns

 
SELECT DATE_ADD('years', 10, '2019-09-04T11:22:33.000Z'::datetime) AS "+10 years";

      +10 years
------------------------
2029-09-04T11:22:33.000Z
SELECT DATE_ADD('week', 10, '2019-09-04T11:22:33.000Z'::datetime) AS "+10 weeks";

      +10 weeks
------------------------
2019-11-13T11:22:33.000Z
SELECT DATE_ADD('seconds', -1234, '2019-09-04T11:22:33.000Z'::datetime) AS "-1234 seconds";

      -1234 seconds
------------------------
2019-09-04T11:01:59.000Z
SELECT DATE_ADD('qq', -417, '2019-09-04'::date) AS "-417 quarters";

      -417 quarters
------------------------
1915-06-04T00:00:00.000Z
SELECT DATE_ADD('minutes', 9235, '2019-09-04'::date) AS "+9235 minutes";

      +9235 minutes
------------------------
2019-09-10T09:55:00.000Z

DATE_DIFF/DATEDIFF/TIMESTAMP_DIFF/TIMESTAMPDIFF

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Synopsis:

DATE_DIFF(
    string_exp, 
    datetime_exp, 
    datetime_exp)

Input:

string expression denoting the date/time unit difference between the following two date/datetime expressions

start date/datetime expression

end date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Subtract the second argument from the third argument and return their difference in multiples of the unit specified in the first argument. If the second argument (start) is greater than the third argument (end), then negative values are returned. If any of the three arguments is null, a null is returned.

Datetime difference units

unit

abbreviations

year

years, yy, yyyy

quarter

quarters, qq, q

month

months, mm, m

dayofyear

dy, y

day

days, dd, d

week

weeks, wk, ww

weekday

weekdays, dw

hour

hours, hh

minute

minutes, mi, n

second

seconds, ss, s

millisecond

milliseconds, ms

microsecond

microseconds, mcs

nanosecond

nanoseconds, ns

 
SELECT DATE_DIFF('years', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.000Z'::datetime, '2032-09-04T22:33:11.000Z'::datetime) AS "diffInYears";

      diffInYears
------------------------
13
SELECT DATE_DIFF('week', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.000Z'::datetime, '2016-12-08T22:33:11.000Z'::datetime) AS "diffInWeeks";

      diffInWeeks
------------------------
-143
SELECT DATE_DIFF('seconds', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime, '2019-07-12T22:33:11.321Z'::datetime) AS "diffInSeconds";

      diffInSeconds
------------------------
-4625362
SELECT DATE_DIFF('qq', '2019-09-04'::date, '2025-04-25'::date) AS "diffInQuarters";

      diffInQuarters
------------------------
23

For hour and minute, DATEDIFF doesn’t do any rounding, but instead first truncates the more detailed time fields on the 2 dates to zero and then calculates the subtraction.

SELECT DATEDIFF('hours', '2019-11-10T12:10:00.000Z'::datetime, '2019-11-10T23:59:59.999Z'::datetime) AS "diffInHours";

      diffInHours
------------------------
11
SELECT DATEDIFF('minute', '2019-11-10T12:10:00.000Z'::datetime, '2019-11-10T12:15:59.999Z'::datetime) AS "diffInMinutes";

      diffInMinutes
------------------------
5
SELECT DATE_DIFF('minutes', '2019-09-04'::date, '2015-08-17T22:33:11.567Z'::datetime) AS "diffInMinutes";

      diffInMinutes
------------------------
-2128407

DATE_PART/DATEPART

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Synopsis:

DATE_PART(
    string_exp, 
    datetime_exp)

Input:

string expression denoting the unit to extract from the date/datetime

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the specified unit from a date/datetime. If any of the two arguments is null a null is returned. It’s similar to EXTRACT but with different names and aliases for the units and provides more options (e.g.: TZOFFSET).

Datetime units to extract

unit

abbreviations

year

years, yy, yyyy

quarter

quarters, qq, q

month

months, mm, m

dayofyear

dy, y

day

days, dd, d

week

weeks, wk, ww

weekday

weekdays, dw

hour

hours, hh

minute

minutes, mi, n

second

seconds, ss, s

millisecond

milliseconds, ms

microsecond

microseconds, mcs

nanosecond

nanoseconds, ns

tzoffset

tz

 
SELECT DATE_PART('year', '2019-09-22T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime) AS "years";

   years
----------
2019
SELECT DATE_PART('mi', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime) AS mins;

   mins
-----------
22
SELECT DATE_PART('quarters', CAST('2019-09-24' AS DATE)) AS quarter;

   quarter
-------------
3
SELECT DATE_PART('month', CAST('2019-09-24' AS DATE)) AS month;

   month
-------------
9

For week and weekday the unit is extracted using the non-ISO calculation, which means that a given week is considered to start from Sunday, not Monday.

SELECT DATE_PART('week', '2019-09-22T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime) AS week;

   week
----------
39

The tzoffset returns the total number of minutes (signed) that represent the time zone’s offset.

SELECT DATE_PART('tzoffset', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.123+05:15'::datetime) AS tz_mins;

   tz_mins
--------------
315
SELECT DATE_PART('tzoffset', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.123-03:49'::datetime) AS tz_mins;

   tz_mins
--------------
-229

DATE_TRUNC/DATETRUNC

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Synopsis:

DATE_TRUNC(
    string_exp, 
    datetime_exp)

Input:

string expression denoting the unit to which the date/datetime should be truncated to

date/datetime expression

Output: datetime

Description: Truncate the date/datetime to the specified unit by setting all fields that are less significant than the specified one to zero (or one, for day, day of week and month). If any of the two arguments is null a null is returned.

Datetime truncation units

unit

abbreviations

millennium

millennia

century

centuries

decade

decades

year

years, yy, yyyy

quarter

quarters, qq, q

month

months, mm, m

week

weeks, wk, ww

day

days, dd, d

hour

hours, hh

minute

minutes, mi, n

second

seconds, ss, s

millisecond

milliseconds, ms

microsecond

microseconds, mcs

nanosecond

nanoseconds, ns

 
SELECT DATE_TRUNC('millennium', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime) AS millennium;

      millennium
------------------------
2000-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
SELECT DATETRUNC('week', '2019-08-24T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime) AS week;

      week
------------------------
2019-08-19T00:00:00.000Z
SELECT DATE_TRUNC('mi', '2019-09-04T11:22:33.123Z'::datetime) AS mins;

      mins
------------------------
2019-09-04T11:22:00.000Z
SELECT DATE_TRUNC('decade', CAST('2019-09-04' AS DATE)) AS decades;

      decades
------------------------
2010-01-01T00:00:00.000Z
SELECT DATETRUNC('quarters', CAST('2019-09-04' AS DATE)) AS quarter;

      quarter
------------------------
2019-07-01T00:00:00.000Z

DAY_OF_MONTH/DOM/DAY

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Synopsis:

DAY_OF_MONTH(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the day of the month from a date/datetime.

SELECT DAY_OF_MONTH(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
19

DAY_OF_WEEK/DAYOFWEEK/DOW

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Synopsis:

DAY_OF_WEEK(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the day of the week from a date/datetime. Sunday is 1, Monday is 2, etc.

SELECT DAY_OF_WEEK(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
2

DAY_OF_YEAR/DOY

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Synopsis:

DAY_OF_YEAR(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the day of the year from a date/datetime.

SELECT DAY_OF_YEAR(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
50

DAY_NAME/DAYNAME

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Synopsis:

DAY_NAME(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: string

Description: Extract the day of the week from a date/datetime in text format (Monday, Tuesday…​).

SELECT DAY_NAME(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
Monday

HOUR_OF_DAY/HOUR

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Synopsis:

HOUR_OF_DAY(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the hour of the day from a date/datetime.

SELECT HOUR_OF_DAY(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS hour;

     hour
---------------
10

ISO_DAY_OF_WEEK/ISODAYOFWEEK/ISODOW/IDOW

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Synopsis:

ISO_DAY_OF_WEEK(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the day of the week from a date/datetime, following the ISO 8601 standard. Monday is 1, Tuesday is 2, etc.

SELECT ISO_DAY_OF_WEEK(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
1

ISO_WEEK_OF_YEAR/ISOWEEKOFYEAR/ISOWEEK/IWOY/IW

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Synopsis:

ISO_WEEK_OF_YEAR(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the week of the year from a date/datetime, following ISO 8601 standard. The first week of a year is the first week with a majority (4 or more) of its days in January.

SELECT ISO_WEEK_OF_YEAR(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS week;

     week
---------------
8

MINUTE_OF_DAY

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Synopsis:

MINUTE_OF_DAY(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the minute of the day from a date/datetime.

SELECT MINUTE_OF_DAY(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS minute;

    minute
---------------
623

MINUTE_OF_HOUR/MINUTE

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Synopsis:

MINUTE_OF_HOUR(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the minute of the hour from a date/datetime.

SELECT MINUTE_OF_HOUR(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS minute;

    minute
---------------
23

MONTH_OF_YEAR/MONTH

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Synopsis:

MONTH(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the month of the year from a date/datetime.

SELECT MONTH_OF_YEAR(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS month;

     month
---------------
2

MONTH_NAME/MONTHNAME

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Synopsis:

MONTH_NAME(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: string

Description: Extract the month from a date/datetime in text format (January, February…​).

SELECT MONTH_NAME(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS month;

     month
---------------
February

NOW

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Synopsis:

NOW()

Input: none

Output: datetime

Description: This function offers the same functionality as CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() function: returns the datetime when the current query reached the server. This method always returns the same value for its every occurrence within the same query.

SELECT NOW() AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12T14:48:52.448Z

Typically, this function (as well as its twin CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()) function is used for relative date/time filtering:

SELECT first_name FROM emp WHERE hire_date > NOW() - INTERVAL 100 YEARS ORDER BY first_name ASC LIMIT 5;

  first_name
---------------
Alejandro
Amabile
Anneke
Anoosh
Arumugam

SECOND_OF_MINUTE/SECOND

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Synopsis:

SECOND_OF_MINUTE(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the second of the minute from a date/datetime.

SELECT SECOND_OF_MINUTE(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS second;

    second
---------------
27

QUARTER

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Synopsis:

QUARTER(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the year quarter the date/datetime falls in.

SELECT QUARTER(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS quarter;

    quarter
---------------
1

TODAY

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Synopsis:

TODAY()

Input: none

Output: date

Description: This function offers the same functionality as CURRENT_DATE() function: returns the date when the current query reached the server. This method always returns the same value for its every occurrence within the same query.

SELECT TODAY() AS result;

         result
------------------------
2018-12-12

Typically, this function (as well as its twin CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()) function is used for relative date filtering:

SELECT first_name FROM emp WHERE hire_date > TODAY() - INTERVAL 35 YEARS ORDER BY first_name ASC LIMIT 5;

 first_name
------------
Alejandro
Amabile
Anneke
Anoosh
Arumugam

WEEK_OF_YEAR/WEEK

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Synopsis:

WEEK_OF_YEAR(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the week of the year from a date/datetime.

SELECT WEEK(CAST('1988-01-05T09:22:10Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS week, ISOWEEK(CAST('1988-01-05T09:22:10Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS isoweek;

      week     |   isoweek
---------------+---------------
2              |1

YEAR

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Synopsis:

YEAR(datetime_exp)

Input:

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract the year from a date/datetime.

SELECT YEAR(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS year;

     year
---------------
2018

EXTRACT

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Synopsis:

EXTRACT(
    datetime_function  
    FROM datetime_exp)

Input:

date/time function name

date/datetime expression

Output: integer

Description: Extract fields from a date/datetime by specifying the name of a datetime function. The following

SELECT EXTRACT(DAY_OF_YEAR FROM CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
50

is the equivalent to

SELECT DAY_OF_YEAR(CAST('2018-02-19T10:23:27Z' AS TIMESTAMP)) AS day;

      day
---------------
50
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