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DateList
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DateList

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gives the current local date and time in the form {year,month,day,hour,minute,second}.

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DateList[date]

gives a date list corresponding to the given date specification.

Details and Options

  • DateList[] uses whatever date and time have been set on your computer system. It performs no corrections for time zones, daylight saving time, etc.
  • In DateList[date], the following date and time specifications can be given as date:
  • dateDateObject specification
    {y,m,d,h,m,s}DateList specification
    timeAbsoluteTime specification
    "string"DateString specification
    {"string",fmt}date string formed from the specified format
  • DateList[TimeZone->z] gives the date and time inferred for time zone z by assuming that your computer is set for the time zone specified by $TimeZone. »
  • Shorter lists can be used in DateList[{y,m,…}]: {y} is equivalent to {y,1,1,0,0,0}, {y,m} to {y,m,1,0,0,0}, etc.
  • Values of m, d, h, m, s outside their normal ranges are appropriately reduced. Noninteger values of d, h, m, s can also be used. »
  • You can compare two lists returned by DateList using NumericalOrder. »
  • In the form DateList[{"string",{"e1","e2",…}}], the "ei" can be "Year", "YearShort", "Quarter", "Month", "MonthName", "Day", "DayName", "Hour", "Hour12", "AMPM", "Minute", "Second", or "Millisecond".
  • DateList[{"string",{"e1","e2",…}}] uses the "ei" to fill in elements of {y,m,d,h,m,s}. Those not filled in are taken to have default values {yc,1,1,0,0,0}, where yc is the current year. »
  • In DateList[{"string",{"e1","e2",…}}], the "ei" are extracted from "string" in the order given, and can be separated by any non-alphanumeric characters. »
  • DateList[{"string",{"e1","sep12","e2","sep23",…}}] extracts elements using the explicit separators specified. »

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (6)Summary of the most common use cases

Find the current date:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-ncn
Out[1]=1

Convert a date object to a date list:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-fopg3b
Out[1]=1

Convert an absolute time to a date list:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-pon5gz
Out[1]=1

Expand an elided date list:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-dpzg74
Out[1]=1

Convert a date string to a date list:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-h1c44y
Out[1]=1

Specify date elements for converting a string:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-bza6ag
Out[1]=1

Scope  (6)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Date lists are converted to standard normalized form:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-beccom
Out[1]=1

Strings are automatically interpreted when possible:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-p2038
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-eptssw
Out[2]=2

Separators are assumed if not specified:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-c2j9fo
Out[1]=1

Give explicit separators:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-goqhop
Out[1]=1

Day, hour, minute, and second values can be nonintegers:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-mpvi5s
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-kqxw4m
Out[2]=2

The current year is used if not specified in a string:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-hv4zf
Out[1]=1

Generalizations & Extensions  (1)Generalized and extended use cases

Give explicit date elements to interpret ambiguous strings:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-ddnr03
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-i9z9jo
Out[2]=2

Options  (1)Common values & functionality for each option

TimeZone  (1)

Find the current date in Greenwich, United Kingdom:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-bkzkzv
Out[1]=1

Find the date for an absolute time using a time zone string:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-b9bdp6
Out[2]=2

Applications  (1)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Specify interpretation of a string in a standard format:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-g3lv4p
Out[1]=1

Properties & Relations  (4)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

DateObject represents a date specification:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-0i50s8
Out[1]=1

AbsoluteTime represents dates as seconds since the beginning of 1900:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-ebkq3j
Out[2]=2

DateList represents dates as lists of date elements:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-hrn6ar
Out[3]=3

DateString represents dates as strings:

In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-75fzm
Out[4]=4

Use DateListPlot to plot data with date list coordinates:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-b4ix4u
Out[1]=1

Use DatePlus to add time units to a date list:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-iaxrh8
Out[1]=1

Use DateDifference to find the number of time units between dates:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-sm1p8
Out[2]=2

Use NumericalOrder to determine the order of dates:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-eucphe
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-dvcqk9
Out[2]=2

The canonicalization performed by DateList is significant:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-byargg
Out[3]=3
In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-hsfcvd
Out[4]=4

Possible Issues  (2)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior

Year and month must be integers because the lengths of years and months vary:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-hrax41
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-3jqas
Out[2]=2

There is no

0^(th)
month or day:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-cvyd23
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0e7pb1bu-dhtbc4
Out[2]=2
Wolfram Research (2007), DateList, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html (updated 2014).
✖
Wolfram Research (2007), DateList, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html (updated 2014).

Text

Wolfram Research (2007), DateList, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html (updated 2014).

✖
Wolfram Research (2007), DateList, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html (updated 2014).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2007. "DateList." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2014. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html.

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Wolfram Language. 2007. "DateList." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2014. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2007). DateList. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html

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Wolfram Language. (2007). DateList. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_datelist, author="Wolfram Research", title="{DateList}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html}", note=[Accessed: 27-April-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_datelist, author="Wolfram Research", title="{DateList}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html}", note=[Accessed: 27-April-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_datelist, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={DateList}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html}, note=[Accessed: 27-April-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_datelist, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={DateList}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/DateList.html}, note=[Accessed: 27-April-2025 ]}