Duration

The duration data type is used to specify a time interval.

The time interval is specified in the following form "PnYnMnDTnHnMnS" where:

• P indicates the period (required)
• nY indicates the number of years
• nM indicates the number of months
• nD indicates the number of days
• T indicates the start of a time section (required if you are going to specify hours, minutes, or seconds)
• nH indicates the number of hours
• nM indicates the number of minutes
• nS indicates the number of seconds

The following is an example of a duration declaration might look like this:

The example above indicates a period of five years.

Or it might look like this:

The example above indicates a period of five years, two months, and 10 days.

Or it might look like this:

The example above indicates a period of five years, two months, 10 days, and 15 hours.

Or it might look like this:

The example above indicates a period of 15 hours.

Negative Duration

To specify a negative duration, enter a minus sign before the P:

The example above indicates a period of minus 10 days.