Date difference

sigmachiuta · ‎08-19-2015

I am trying to run a script when the time is within 1 minute of the due date time. How can I make sure that I am comparing the correct values here? I tried to run a background script that would show me the values to see why the script below is triggering almost immediately, but it returned null.

var gr= new GlideRecord('incident')
gr.addQuery('active', true); 
gr.addQuery('number', 'INC00051753')
gr.query();


gs.print("date diff: " + gs.dateDiff(gr.due_date,gs.nowDateTime(), false));

var gr = new GlideRecord('incident'); 
gr.addQuery('active', true); 
gr.addQuery('state', 'IN', '2,3,4' ); 


gr.query(); 


while(gr.next()){ 

var time = gs.dateDiff(gr.due_date.getDisplayValue(),gs.nowDateTime(),true);
time = parseFloat(time);


//set state 
if( time <= 60) { 

//set state 
gr.state = 1; 
gr.update(); 

} 
}

coryseering · ‎08-19-2015

Right. dateDiff is a shortcut for a GlideDuration calculation:

GlideDuration gd = new GlideDuration(end.getNumericValue() - start.getNumericValue());

Depending on wether you want a numeric value or not, there is some conversion to a number then a string, but basically it's just "what is the amount of time I'd have to *add* to the start date to get to the end date". If your start date is in the past and your end date in the future, then you get a positive number. If you reverse them, you get a negative number (because you's have add a negative amount of time to the start date to get 'back' to the end date).

If you just want the *absolute value*, run the returned value through Math.abs():

var gr= new GlideRecord('incident');

gr.addQuery('active', true);

gr.addQuery('number', 'INC00051753');

gr.query();

if (gr.next())

gs.print("date diff: " + Math.abs(gs.dateDiff(gr.getValue('due_date'), gs.nowNoTZ(), true)));

View solution in original post

coryseering · ‎08-19-2015

Hi sigmachiuta,

What is your user account's timezone?

What is the system timezone?

Using Time Zones - ServiceNow Wiki

Use getValue() and gs.nowNoTZ() to get the value of the date/time field in UTC and the current date/time in UTC format, respectively.

var gr= new GlideRecord('incident');   


gr.addQuery('active', true);   


gr.addQuery('number', 'INC00051753');   


gr.query();   


   


if (gr.next())   


       gs.print("date diff: " + gs.dateDiff(gr.getValue('due_date'), gs.nowNoTZ(), false));

Do you now see the absolute difference between the dates as you expected to?

sigmachiuta · ‎08-19-2015

I didnt add .getDisplayValue to the gs.print so that is why it was showing different than expected. Also I switched the gs.dateDiff dates around and I am seeeing the expected results.

gs.dateDiff(gs.nowNoTZ(),gr.getValue('due_date'), true))

coryseering · ‎08-19-2015

Great!

Can you mark your question as answered so other people who search for a similar question will know what to do?

sigmachiuta · ‎08-19-2015

Wait I dont get this. I am testing with different dates and if I am on the same date/time for example when i change the day of the month and compare I get a negative number that doesnt seem right.

Different dates

*** Script: date diff: -86174 - ???- Difference

*** Script: 2015-08-20 15:38:30 - due date

*** Script: 2015-08-19 15:42:16 - current date/time

same date shows the current amount of seconds

*** Script: date diff: 8 sec. difference

*** Script: 2015-08-19 15:45:00 due date

*** Script: 2015-08-19 15:45:08 - current date/time

coryseering · ‎08-19-2015

Hi sigmachiuta,

The reason your test script returns null is you are not loading a result from the set.

var gr= new GlideRecord('incident');


gr.addQuery('active', true);


gr.addQuery('number', 'INC00051753');


gr.query();




if (gr.next())


       gs.print("date diff: " + gs.dateDiff(gr.getDisplayValue('due_date'), gs.nowDateTime(), false));

Once you have the test script returning results, you can figure out why the other script isn't doing what you want it to.