timeDiffInMinutes( )

Calculate the time difference between two date or date/time values in minutes.

The timeDiffInMinutes( ) helper function is invoked with starting and ending dates passed in as parameters. The function returns a negative or positive number value indicating the difference between the two dates in minutes.

Note:

The order in which parameters are supplied for date helper functions is important; the resulting return value depends on which date you pass in as the first or second parameter.

When using date type variables with no time elements, function considers time as '00:00:00'.

Syntax

timeDiffInMinutes(toDate, fromDate)

Parameters

Parameter	Required/Optional	Description
`toDate`	Required	Ending date value.
`fromDate`	Required	Starting date value.

Return value

Number that represents the difference between the passed-in dates in minutes. This number can be positive or negative.

If the number value returned is a negative or zero value, means that toDate is before or the same as the fromDate.
If the function returns a positive value, toDate is after the fromDate.

Examples

Example 3-13 Difference between two date/time items

// Given 2 form questions of type DateTime are defined in the rule as variables:
return timeDiffInMinutes(dateTime1, dateTime2);

Example 3-14 Difference between two hard-coded date/time items

var toDate = new Date("March 1, 2020 12:02:00");
var fromDate = new Date("March 1, 2020 12:00:00");
return timeDiffInMinutes(toDate, fromDate);
 
// Returns value: 2

Example 3-15 Difference between 2 time items

var toDate = new Date( '01-Jan-0001 ' + ruleTimeItem.getHour() + ':' + ruleTimeItem.getMinute() + ':' + ruleTimeItem.getSecond() );
var fromDate = new Date( '01-Jan-0001 ' + ruleTimeItem2.getHour() + ':' + ruleTimeItem2.getMinute() + ':' + ruleTimeItem2.getSecond() );
return timeDiffInMinutes(toDate, fromDate);

Example 3-16 Difference between two partial date items

var toDate = new Date( ruleTimeItem.getYear() + '-' +  ruleTimeItem.getMonth() + '-' + ruleTimeItem.getDay() + ' ' + ruleTimeItem.getHour() + ':' + ruleTimeItem.getMinute() + ':' + ruleTimeItem.getSecond() );
var fromDate = new Date( ruleTimeItem.getYear() + '-' +  ruleTimeItem.getMonth() + '-' + ruleTimeItem.getDay() + ' ' + ruleTimeItem.getHour() + ':' + ruleTimeItem.getMinute() + ':' + ruleTimeItem.getSecond() );
return timeDiffInMinutes(toDate, fromDate);

Parent topic: Date and time functions