Format specifier combination for time stamps

[EdHarris]

Hi,

I am trying to find a format specifier combination for time stamps which will be written to file. In using the file I need to see the date and when processing the data I need all the decimal digits of the time stamp. I have made a small vi incorporating the timestamp source from my main program to play around with but cannot get the correct format specifier. Using this format specifier "%H%M%S%8u" on the Format Date/time String VI it is outputting the correct number of decimal places but the other part is not recognisable as the date minutes seconds. ie 140404.51230382.

I put that format Date/Time String vi in my test vi just to test a different way of doing it but what I really want to do is carry on with the Format into string vi. But editing the Format into String vi format specifier didnt seem to work.

Any suggestions gratefully received

[Andrey_Dmitriev]

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@EdHarris wrote: Using this format specifier "%H%M%S%8u" on the Format Date/time String VI it is outputting the correct number of decimal places but the other part is not recognisable as the date minutes seconds. ie 140404.51230382.

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What do you mean by “not recognisable”?
According to your specifier, the “14” represents the hours (in UTC), “04” the minutes, and the next “04” the seconds; the rest is the fractional part.
What result are you expecting?

[pincpanter]

Do you simply want separators? Use "%H.%M.%S%8u" or "%H:%M:%S%8u".

[EdHarris]

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@Andrey_Dmitriev wrote:

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@EdHarris wrote: Using this format specifier "%H%M%S%8u" on the Format Date/time String VI it is outputting the correct number of decimal places but the other part is not recognisable as the date minutes seconds. ie 140404.51230382.

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What do you mean by “not recognisable”?
According to your specifier, the “14” represents the hours (in UTC), “04” the minutes, and the next “04” the seconds; the rest is the fractional part.
What result are you expecting?

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You are right, it is the correct time for my location. My next problem is how to add the date?

Looks like I will only be able to do this by using multiple Format Date/Time String vis because if I try adding any more % specifiers in the  Format into string VI it says too many format specifiers. Is there away round that?

[Andrey_Dmitriev · Accepted solution]

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@EdHarris wrote:

You are right, it is the correct time for my location. My next problem is how to add the date?

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Exactly the same way:

Refer to the help topic: https://www.ni.com/docs/en-US/bundle/labview-api-ref/page/functions/format-date-time-string.html

Or something like this if you prefer:

The "%,;" can specify separator for the fractional part - "." or ",".

[santo_13]

With my exposure to Python, I have grown fond of ISO 8601 datetime strings.

Epoch Date & Time Toolkit for LabVIEW - Download - VIPM by JKI library provides a VI to format ISO8601 strings

[EdHarris]

Thats really helpful.

I also found %c%8u produces this format: 03/08/2026 13:55:18.44514274

But I had to rewrite my code like this because couldnt make the Format into String VI do anything useful.

 

[GerdW]

Hi Ed,

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@EdHarris wrote:

But I had to rewrite my code like this because couldnt make the Format into String VI do anything useful. 

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Why shouldn't FormatIntoString doesn't format timestamps correctly? Did you read the help for the format codes?

When using %c format code you need to keep in mind the result can differ between computers/account settings…

[EdHarris]

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@GerdW wrote:

Hi Ed,

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@EdHarris wrote:

But I had to rewrite my code like this because couldnt make the Format into String VI do anything useful. 

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Why shouldn't FormatIntoString doesn't format timestamps correctly? Did you read the help for the format codes?

When using %c format code you need to keep in mind the result can differ between computers/account settings…

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If you have multiple inputs, I couldnt find any way of making them be treated separately. Format into stringVI just thinks every % in the box applies to a separate input and threw an error for too many percent codes.  You see there are multiple % codes in each format specifier for each input.

[GerdW]

Hi Ed,

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@EdHarris wrote:
If you have multiple inputs, I couldnt find any way of making them be treated separately. Format into stringVI just thinks every % in the box applies to a separate input and threw an error for too many percent codes.
You see there are multiple % codes in each format specifier for each input.

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There are already two %-codes for each value in the last example.

Next example:

3 input values for FormatIntoString, formatted 3 times as timestamp, with different (number of) formatting codes per entry…

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@EdHarris wrote:
Format into stringVI just thinks every % in the box applies to a separate input

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Yes, sure. But if you read the help for those formatting codes you should have noticed the "Variable Order" format code %$ that allows using the same input several times…

Did you read the help?

3rd example:

2 input values formatted as 3 items…