date and time information matlab

Date and Time Functions

This table shows what information is available in MATLAB withrespect to dates and times and which function provides this information.The sections that follow the table provide more information on howto use the different date and time formats.

Date and Time Information	Output Format	Function toUse
Current date and time	Date number	now
Date vector	clock
Date string	datestr(now)
Current date	Date number	datenum(date)
Date vector	datevec(date)
Date string	date
Day of week for given date	Full day name, abbreviated name, or day number in week (1-7)	weekday
Last day of given month(s)	Vector of one or more days	eomday
Date with modified field	Date number	addtodate
Calendar for given month	6-by-7 matrix of days	calendar

Date String Tables

Symbolic Identifiers for Individual Fields

The following table shows:

The nine fields of a date string (left column)

Ways to format each field

Example output for each field

Assigned character-based field identifiers

Field	StringFormat	Example of Output	Field Identifier
Quarter year	Letter Q and 1 digit	Q4	'QQ'
Year	4 digits	2007	'yyyy'
2 digits	07	'yy'
Month	Full name	December	'mmmm'
First 3 letters	Dec	'mmm'
2 digits	12	'mm'
First letter	D	'm'
Day	Full name	Tuesday	'dddd'
First 3 letters	Tue	'ddd'
2 digits	20	'dd'
First letter	T	'd'
Hour	2 digits	16	'HH'
Minute	2 digits	02	'MM'
Second	2 digits	54	'SS'
Millisecond	Decimal point and 3 digits	.057	'FFF'
12-hour period	AM or PM	PM	'AM' or 'PM'

Notes Concerning Usage. Here are a few points toremember when using the symbolic identifiers:

MATLAB interpretsthe field specifiers in this table according to your computer's languagesetting and the current MATLAB language setting.

In a field specifier string, you cannot specify any field morethan once. For example, you cannot use
'yy-mmm-dd-m' becauseit has two month identifiers. The one exception to this is that youcan combine one instance of
dd with one instanceof any of the other day identifiers:

ds = datestr(now, 'dddd  mmm dd yyyy')
ds =
Wednesday  Jun 30 2010

You only can use QQ (quarter of the year)alone or with a year specifier.

Numeric Identifiers for Predefined Formats

The following table shows numeric identifiers you can use toinclude certain field and format combinations in a date string.

Date String Formats	Example of Output	Identifier to Use
'dd-mmm-yyyy HH:MM:SS'	01-Mar-2000 15:45:17	0
'dd-mmm-yyyy'	01-Mar-2000	1
'mm/dd/yy'	03/01/00	2
'mmm'	Mar	3
'm'	M	4
'mm'	03	5
'mm/dd'	03/01	6
'dd'	01	7
'ddd'	Wed	8
'd'	W	9
'yyyy'	2000	10
'yy'	00	11
'mmmyy'	Mar00	12
'HH:MM:SS'	15:45:17	13
'HH:MM:SS PM'	3:45:17 PM	14
'HH:MM'	15:45	15
'HH:MM PM'	3:45 PM	16
'QQ-YY'	Q1-01	17
'QQ'	Q1	18
'dd/mm'	01/03	19
'dd/mm/yy'	01/03/00	20
'mmm.dd,yyyy HH:MM:SS'	Mar.01,2000 15:45:17	21
'mmm.dd,yyyy'	Mar.01,2000	22
'mm/dd/yyyy'	03/01/2000	23
'dd/mm/yyyy'	01/03/2000	24
'yy/mm/dd'	00/03/01	25
'yyyy/mm/dd'	2000/03/01	26
'QQ-YYYY'	Q1-2001	27
'mmmyyyy'	Mar2000	28
'yyyy-mm-dd' (ISO 8601)	2000-03-01	29
'yyyymmddTHHMMSS' (ISO 8601)	20000301T154517	30
'yyyy-mm-dd HH:MM:SS'	2000-03-01 15:45:17	31