Using time
In an integration flow, you may need to work with dates and times. This could involve retrieving a specific date or time or converting an existing date or time into another format. Below are examples of working with date and time using simple expressions and Groovy scripts.
Alternatively, use the XSLT component or XPath expressions when working with date:time.
Simple expression examples
Here are examples of generating a timestamp in various formats, including basic calculation examples:
| Expression | Result |
|---|---|
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Amsterdam:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} | 2019-08-16 15:04:37 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Dublin:yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss} | 2019-08-16'T'14:04:37 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Lisbon:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} | 2019-08-16 14:04:37 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Sofia:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm} | 2019-08-16 16:04 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Amsterdam:HH:mm:ss:SSS} | 2019-08-16 16:04:37:387 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Amsterdam:dd-MM-yyyy} | 16-08-2019 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Amsterdam:ddMMyyyy} | 16082019 |
${date-with-timezone:now:Europe/Amsterdam:yyyyMMdd} | 20190816 |
${date:now:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm} | 2019-08-16 14:04 |
${date:now+24h:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm} | 2019-08-17 14:04 * |
${date:now-1h30m:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm} | 2019-08-16 12:34 * |
${date:now+120000:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm} | 2019-08-16 14:06 ** |
* Only s (seconds), m (minutes) and h (hours) are valid for timestamp offsets
** Value in milliseconds
Groovy script examples
Below are examples of Groovy scripts for date-time transformations. They can be used in the Script component.
Example 1
Convert yyyyMMdd to ISO8601 date:time. Value time header: 20150702.
String oldDate = request.getHeader('time')
Date date = Date.parse( 'yyyyMMdd', oldDate )
String currentDate = date.format( "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS" )
request.setHeader('time', currentDate)
Result time header: 2015-07-02T00:00:00.000.
Example 2
Convert dd-MM-yyy to yyyMMdd. Value time header: 05-04-2019.
String oldDate = request.getHeader('time')
Date date = Date.parse( 'dd-MM-yyyy', oldDate )
String currentDate = date.format( "yyyyMMdd" )
request.setHeader('time', currentDate)
Result time header: 20190405.
Example 3
Convert UNIX Timestamp to ISO8601 date:time. Value time header: 1541759458.
Long unixDate = Long.valueOf(request.getHeader('time'))
Date date = new Date(unixDate)
String currentDate = date.format( "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSZ" )
request.setHeader('time', currentDate)
Result time header: 1970-01-18T20:15:59.458+0000.
Example 4
Use regex to extract a date from a complex string and format it. Value time header: a201805041235040000000.
def oldDate = request.getHeader('time')
def matcher = oldDate =~ /\d{14}/ // Regex looks for exactly 14 consecutive digits
if (matcher.find()) {
def cleanedDate = matcher.group(0)
def timestamp = Date.parse('yyyyMMddHHmmss', cleanedDate).format("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ")
request.setHeader('time', timestamp)
} else {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("No valid date-time string found in: ${oldDate}")
}
Result time header: 2018-05-04T12:35:04+0000
Example 5
Convert ISO8601 date:time to readable string with timezone. Value time header: 1988-06-22 20:15:59.458.
oldDate = request.getHeader('time')
timestamp = Date.parse("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss", oldDate).format("E MMM dd HH:mm:ss z yyyy")
request.setHeader('time', timestamp)
Result time header: Wed Jun 22 20:15:59 UTC 1988.
Example 6
Calculate the current UNIX timestamp in milliseconds.
def currentDateAsUnixMs = new Date().getTime().toString()
def currentDateAsUnix = currentDateAsUnixMs.substring(0,10)
request.setHeader('time', currentDateAsUnix)
Example result time header: 1733240929.
Example 7
Calculate an interval in seconds between two dates. Value time header: 2021-05-25 13:51:18.
def currentTime = new Date()
String currentTimeFormat= currentTime.format("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")
def previousTime = request.getHeader('time')
def oldTime = Date.parse("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss", previousTime)
def difference = currentTime.getTime() - oldTime.getTime()
interval = Math.round(difference/1000)
request.setHeader('time', interval)
Result time header: 111290597.
Example 8
Calculating with date:time. Value time header: 2023-01-10 12:00:00.
import java.time.LocalDateTime
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
def timestamp = request.getHeader("time");
// Parse the timestamp string as a LocalDateTime object
def formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss")
def date = LocalDateTime.parse(timestamp, formatter)
// Add 1 year
date = date.plusYears(1)
// Substract 12 months
date = date.minusMonths(12)
// Add 1 week
date = date.plusWeeks(1)
// Substract 7 days
date = date.minusDays(7)
// Add 1 hour
date = date.plusHours(1)
// Substract 60 minutes
date = date.minusMinutes(60)
// Add 1 second
date = date.plusSeconds(1)
// Format the new timestamp string
formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd/MM/yy HH:mm:ss")
def newTimestamp = date.format(formatter)
request.setHeader("time", newTimestamp);
Result time header: 10/01/23 12:00:01.
Date Format Pattern Syntax
You can design your custom format patterns for dates and times using the symbols listed in the table below:
| Symbol | Meaning | Presentation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
G | era designator | Text | AD |
y | year | Number | 2009 |
M | month in year | Text & Number | July & 07 |
d | day in month | Number | 10 |
h | hour in am/pm (1-12) | Number | 12 |
H | hour in day (0-23) | Number | 0 |
m | minute in hour | Number | 30 |
s | second in minute | Number | 55 |
S | millisecond | Number | 978 |
E | day in week | Text | Tuesday |
D | day in year | Number | 189 |
F | day of week in month | Number | 2 (2nd Wed in July) |
w | week in year | Number | 27 |
W | week in month | Number | 2 |
a | am/pm marker | Text | PM |
k | hour in day (1-24) | Number | 24 |
K | hour in am/pm (0-11) | Number | 0 |
z | time zone | Text | Pacific Standard Time |
' | escape for text | Delimiter | (none) |
' | single quote | Literal | ' |
Non-alphabet characters in custom formats are treated as literal text. They will appear in the formatted output even if not enclosed in single quotes.
The amount of symbols determines the format. For instance, A zz pattern results in PDT, whereas zzzz produces Pacific Daylight Time. Refer to the table below for these rules:
| Presentation | Number of Symbols | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Text | 1 - 3 | Abbreviated form, if one exists |
| Text | >3 | Full form |
| Number | minimum number of digits is required | Shorter numbers are padded with zeros (for a year, if the count of 'y' is 2, then the year is truncated to 2 digits) |
| Text & Number | 1 - 2 | Number form |
| Text & Number | 3 | Text form |