Using Dates in Search

There is a special consideration for the whereClause-based queries which reference a column of the DATETIME data type. Typically a DATETIME column is referenced in a comparison against a scalar value describing a specific date or a timestamp. The scalar value can be a number of milliseconds since the epoch (UNIX timestamp as milliseconds) or a string. Backendless supports a variety of date formats for the latter. For example, the queries below will find all the objects which were updated after March 23rd, 2015:

updated > '23-Mar-2015'

updated > '03/23/2015'

updated > 1427068800000

Comparison Operators

Backendless supports the following date comparison operators:

Column's value is after the specified date/time: use either > or the after keyword:

birthDate > '22-Dec-1980'

birthDate after 1427068800000

Column's value is before the specified date/time: use either < or the before keyword:

birthDate < '22-Dec-1980'

birthDate before 1427068800000

Column's value is either at or after the specified date/time: use either => or the at or after keyword:

birthDate >= '28-10-1988'

birthDate at or after '10/28/1988 00:00:00 GMT-0200'

Column's value is either at or before the specified date/time: use either <= or the at or before keyword:

birthDate >= '28-10-1988'

birthDate at or after '10/28/1988 00:00:00 GMT-0200'

Note: the whereClause-based queries can be tested in the Backendless Console with the SQL Search turned on.

Supported Date Formats

Date/time string values may be in any of the following formats. The pattern letters have the same definition as in Java's SimpleDateFormat:

EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss zzz yyyy
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z'
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'z
MM.dd.yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'z
MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'z
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss z
MM.dd.yyyy HH:mm:ss z
MM.dd.yyyy HH:mm:ss
MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm:ss
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss
MM.dd.yyyy
MM-dd-yyyy
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'Z
MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm
MM/dd/yyyy
dd/MMM/yyyy
dd-MMM-yyyy
EEEEE, d MMMMM yyyy
yyyy/MM/d/HH:mm:ss
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss
EEEEE, MMMMM d, yyyy
MMMMM d, yyyy
yyyy M d
yyyyMMMd
yyyy-MMM-d
yyyy-M-d, E
'Date' yyyy-MM-dd
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ
yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mmZ
yyyy-MM-dd
yyyy-'W'w
yyyy-DDD
d MMMMM yyyy, HH'h' mm'm' ss's'

Using Functions

Backendless supports a variety of functions that work with the date/time values. These functions can be used to perform some kind of transformation of a value in a DATETIME column and use the result in a where clause condition. Consider the following examples:

A condition to retrieve database objects where the saleDate column contains a date that is in the second quarter:

QUARTER( saleDate ) = 2

A condition to retrieve database objects where the dateOfBirth column contains dates that older than 18 years:

YEAR(DATEADD( dateOfBirth, '18 0', 'YEAR_MONTH')) < YEAR(NOW())

Example

Using DictionaryCustom Class

String whereClause = "updated after " + DateTime.Now.Ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerMillisecond;
DataQueryBuilder queryBuilder = DataQueryBuilder.Create();
queryBuilder.SetWhereClause( whereClause );

// ***********************************************************
// Blocking API:
// ***********************************************************
IList<Dictionary<string, object>> result = Backendless.Data.Of( "Contact" ).Find( queryBuilder );

// ***********************************************************
// Non-blocking API:
// ***********************************************************
AsyncCallback<IList<Dictionary<string, object>>> findCallback;
findCallback = new AsyncCallback<IList<Dictionary<string, object>>>(
  foundObjects =>
  {
    System.Console.WriteLine( "Server returned " + foundObjects.Count + " objects" );
  },
  error =>
  {
    System.Console.WriteLine( "Server returned an error " + error.Message );
  } );

Backendless.Data.Of( "Contact" ).Find( queryBuilder, findCallback );

String whereClause = "updated after " + DateTime.Now.Ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerMillisecond;
DataQueryBuilder queryBuilder = new DataQueryBuilder.Create();
queryBuilder.SetWhereClause( whereClause );

// ***********************************************************
// Blocking API:
// ***********************************************************
IList<Contact> result = Backendless.Data.Of<Contact>().Find( queryBuilder );

// ***********************************************************
// Non-blocking API:
// ***********************************************************
AsyncCallback<IList<Contact>> findCallback;
findCallback = new AsyncCallback<IList<Contact>>(
  foundObjects =>
  {
    System.Console.WriteLine( "Server returned " + foundObjects.Count + " objects" );
  },
  error =>
  {
    System.Console.WriteLine( "Server returned an error " + error.Message );
  } );

Backendless.Data.Of<Contact>().Find( queryBuilder, findCallback );