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between

Calendar math differences

Description

The between function returns the calendar differences between two datetime arrays. When between calculates the calendar difference between two datetime values, it takes into account leap years, Daylight Saving Time shifts, and the differing lengths of calendar months. To calculate differences as exact fixed-length durations, use subtraction instead, as in dt = t2 - t1.

dt = between(t1,t2) returns the differences between the datetime values in t1 and t2. The dt output is a calendarDuration array in terms of the calendar components years, months, days, and time, such that t2 = t1+dt.

example

dt = between(t1,t2,components) returns the differences between datetime values in terms of the specified calendar or time components.

example

Examples

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Create two datetime arrays.

t1 = datetime('now')
t1 = datetime
   20-Jul-2024 15:09:24

t2 = datetime('tomorrow','Format','dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss') + caldays(0:2)
t2 = 1x3 datetime
   21-Jul-2024 00:00:00   22-Jul-2024 00:00:00   23-Jul-2024 00:00:00

Find the difference between the two arrays.

dt = between(t1,t2)
dt = 1x3 calendarDuration
      8h 50m 35.127s   1d 8h 50m 35.127s   2d 8h 50m 35.127s

between returns a calendarDuration array containing differences in terms of days, hours, minutes, and seconds.

Create a sequence of datetimes over a 6-month period. Then, find the number of days between the first date and each of the dates in the sequence.

t1 = datetime(2013,1,1);
t2 = dateshift(t1,'end','month',0:4)
t2 = 1x5 datetime
   31-Jan-2013   28-Feb-2013   31-Mar-2013   30-Apr-2013   31-May-2013

dt = between(t1,t2,'Days')
dt = 1x5 calendarDuration
    30d    58d    89d   119d   150d

Input Arguments

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Input date and time, specified as a datetime array, character vector, cell array of character vectors, or string array. At least one of inputs t1 and t2 must be a datetime array. t1 and t2 must be the same size unless one is a scalar.

Input date and time, specified as a datetime array, character vector, cell array of character vectors, or string array. At least one of inputs t1 and t2 must be a datetime array. t1 and t2 must be the same size unless one is a scalar.

Calendar or time components, specified as one of the following character vectors, or a cell array or string array containing one or more of these values:

  • 'years'

  • 'quarters'

  • 'months'

  • 'weeks'

  • 'days'

  • 'time'

Except for 'time', the above components are flexible lengths of time. For example, one month represents a different length of time when added to a datetime in January than when added to a datetime in February.

between operates on the calendar or time components in decreasing order, starting with the largest component.

In general, t2 is not equal to t1 + dt, unless you include 'time' in components.

Example: {'years','quarters'}

Data Types: char | cell | string

Output Arguments

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Difference array, returned as a calendarDuration array.

Tips

  • To compute differences between datetime values in t1 and t2 as exact, fixed-length durations, use t2-t1.

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced in R2014b