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The dates can be specified either as two datetime columns (in which case the second is subtracted from the first), or as a single column and a reference date provided as a parameter (see since or until in parameters below). If only one column is provided as input, one of since or until must be specified as a reference date.

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Usage

The following examples show how the step can be used in a recipe.

Examples

  • Example 1
  • Example 2
  • Signature
To get the positive number of hours since the last login of a user as of now:
time_interval(ds.last_login, {
  "unit": "hours",
  "until": "now",
}) -> (ds.hours_elapsed)

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Inputs & Outputs

The following are the inputs expected by the step and the outputs it produces. These are generally columns (ds.first_name), datasets (ds or ds[["first_name", "last_name"]]) or models (referenced by name e.g. "churn-clf").
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date1
column[date]
required
A column of datetimes.
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*date2
column[date]
An (optional) column of datetimes subtracted from the first.
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interval
column[number]
required
The calculated interval in selected units.

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Configuration

The following parameters can be used to configure the behaviour of the step by including them in a json object as the last “input” to the step, i.e. step(..., {"param": "value", ...}) -> (output).

Parameters

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unit
string
default:"days"
Unit for duration. The unit of measurement for the duration. Allowed values are: - “Y”, “year” - “Q”, “quarter” - “M”, “month” - “W”, “week” - “D”, “day” - “h”, “hour” - “m”, “minute” - “s”, “second” - “ms”, “millisecond” The unit name can be spelled in singular or plural and is case-insensitive.Values must be one of the following:Y year Year years Years Q quarter Quarter quarters Quarters M month Month months Months W week Week weeks Weeks D day Day days Days h hour Hour hours Hours m minute Minute minutes Minutes s second Second seconds Seconds ms millisecond Millisecond milliseconds Milliseconds
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absolute
boolean
default:"false"
Return type of interval duration. Whether the interval duration should always be returned as positive, independent of whether date1 occurred before or after date2.
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since
string
Date start reference for intervals. If only one column is specified as input, a reference date relative to which the intervals will be calculated. The result will be date1 - since. I.e. intervals will be positive if dates in the column are more recent than the reference date (and negative otherwise). The date must be either a valid date string (preferrable month-first, e.g. “2021-12-31”), or the constant “now”.
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until
string
Date ending reference for intervals. If only one column is specified as input, a reference date relative to which the intervals will be calculated. The result will be until - date1. I.e. intervals will be positive if the reference date is more recent than the dates in the column (and negative otherwise). The date must be either a valid date string (preferrable month-first, e.g. “2021-12-31”), or the constant “now”.
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