How to Convert MySQL Date Strings with AM/PM Suffixes to Unix Timestamps?

MySQL: Converting Date Strings to Unix Timestamps

When retrieving date strings from a database, it's not uncommon to encounter issues with inconsistent formatting, such as timestamps that include AM or PM suffixes. This article demonstrates how to effectively convert these date strings to Unix timestamps.

The specific issue at hand is converting strings in the format "Apr 15 2012 12:00AM" toUnix timestamps. While the initial attempt using CONVERT(DATETIME, Sales.SalesDate, 103) and CONVERT(TIMESTAMP, Sales.SalesDate, 103) may not have been successful, the solution lies in the following steps:

Step 1: Convert the Date String to DATETIME

To start, we need to convert the date string to a DATETIME object using the STR_TO_DATE function. This function expects two parameters: the date string and the format string. In this case, the format string should match the input string's format ("%M %d %Y %h:%i%p").

STR_TO_DATE('Apr 15 2012 12:00AM', '%M %d %Y %h:%i%p')

Step 2: Convert DATETIME to Unix Timestamp

Once we have the DATETIME object, we can convert it to a Unix timestamp using the UNIX_TIMESTAMP function. This function takes a DATETIME object as its argument and returns the corresponding Unix timestamp.

UNIX_TIMESTAMP(SELECT STR_TO_DATE('Apr 15 2012 12:00AM', '%M %d %Y %h:%i%p'))

By following these steps, we can successfully convert date strings with AM or PM suffixes to the desired Unix timestamp format.

Additional Formatting Considerations

If the desired output format differs from the default Unix timestamp, we can further process it using the FROM_UNIXTIME function to adjust the formatting. This function takes two arguments: the Unix timestamp and a new format string.

SELECT FROM_UNIXTIME(UNIX_TIMESTAMP(STR_TO_DATE('Apr 15 2012 12:00AM', '%M %d %Y %h:%i%p')),'%m-%d-%Y %h:%i:%p')

This code converts the Unix timestamp to a date string in the format "mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm:ss".

Conclusion

By understanding how to convert date strings to DATETIME objects and then to Unix timestamps, we gain greater flexibility in working with date-related data in MySQL. The techniques outlined in this article provide a reliable and efficient approach to solving common formatting issues and extracting valuable information from date strings.

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