Documentation/Calc Functions/TIMEVALUE
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Function name:
TIMEVALUE
Category:
Date and Time
Summary:
Takes a valid date expression passed as a string and converts its time component into a date-time serial number.
Syntax:
TIMEVALUE(DateTime)
Returns:
Returns a real number (0 ≤ x < 1) which is the fractional part of the date-time serial number calculated using the given argument. The returned value is formatted as a number by default, but you can apply other formats as needed.
Arguments:
DateTime is the string (in quotation marks) or a reference to a cell containing that string, which is the date expression to be used. If you intend to put the string in a cell, then make sure that the cell is formatted as text.
- If DateTime does not contain a valid date expression, then TIMEVALUE reports an invalid argument error (Err:502).
- If DateTime does not have a time component, then TIMEVALUE reports an invalid argument error (Err:502).
- TIMEVALUE ignores any date components of DateTime.
- If DateTime references a cell which contains a valid date expression formatted as a date, then TIMEVALUE will return an invalid argument error (Err:502). This is because Calc handles the value in that cell as a number rather than a text string.
Additional details:
General information about Calc's Date and Time functions
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Note:
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- Internal to Calc, a date/time value is handled as a real number and this is sometimes referred to by the term date-time serial number. For example, 2021-02-08 12:00:00 corresponds to the date-time serial number 44235.5. The integer part of a date-time serial number (before the decimal separator) is the number of days since a defined start date. The fractional part of a date-time serial number (after the decimal separator) is the time of day expressed as a fraction of a day. For example, 0.25 is equivalent to 06:00:00 and 0.75 is equivalent to 18:00:00.
- Calc uses 1899-12-30 as the default start date (day 0) but you can go to ▸ ▸ ▸ to select alternative start dates; however, unless you have specific requirements for compatibility with legacy spreadsheet applications, we recommend that you do not change this setting. If you copy and paste cells containing date values between different spreadsheets, check that both documents are set to use the same start date to avoid unexpected changes to the dates displayed.
- Negative date-time serial numbers correspond to dates earlier than Calc's start date. Calc calculates all dates back to 15th October 1582 using the Gregorian calendar. The day before this is 4th October 1582, and Calc uses the Julian calendar for earlier dates.
- A date-time serial number is the same as any other number, except that we usually choose to display it formatted as a date/time. You can enter a number in a cell and then change the cell's formatting to display the value as a date/time. You can also enter a date/time in a cell and then change the cell's formatting to display the date-time serial number.
- For clarity, the descriptions of the Calc functions within these wiki pages use the standard ISO 8601 format for date and time because this should be independent of your selected locale settings. The default date format on your computer may be different. When entering dates as part of formulas, slashes or dashes used as date separators may be interpreted as arithmetic operators. Therefore, dates entered in this format are not recognized as dates and result in erroneous calculations. To keep dates from being interpreted as parts of formulas either use the DATE function or place the date in quotation marks and use the ISO 8601 notation. Avoid using locale dependent date formats which may produce errors if the document is loaded under different locale settings.
- Time zone information is not used by Calc's Date & Time functions.
- If you only wish to enter two digits of the year (for example 21 instead of 2021), Calc needs to know whether you mean 2021 or 1921. Go to ▸ ▸ ▸ to view or adjust the range of years which Calc will use to interpret two-digit year values.
- Calc contains logic to decide how to treat text when encountered as an operand in an arithmetic operation or as an argument to a function that expects a number instead. In this context, unambiguous conversion is possible for ISO 8601 dates and times in their extended formats with separators. For example, the simple formula
=1 + "2021-02-08"will usually give the result2021-02-09(when formatted as a date). However, this logic may be affected by the settings on the Detailed Calculation Settings dialog, accessed by selecting ▸ ▸ ▸ and pressing the button in the Detailed Calculation Settings area. If a #VALUE! error occurs, it may be because the Generate #VALUE! error option is selected, in which case you should experiment with one of the other self-explanatory options in the Conversion from text to number drop-down.
Examples:
| Formula | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| =TIMEVALUE("09:00:00") | The function returns the value 0.375, which is the date-time serial number for the time 09:00:00. | 0.375 |
| =TIMEVALUE("2021-02-24T18:00:00") | The function returns the value 0.75, which is the date-time serial number for the time 18:00:00. Note that TIMEVALUE ignores date components of the DateTime argument. | 0.75 |
| =TIMEVALUE(D9) where cell D9 contains the value 12:00:00 formatted as text. | The function returns the value 0.5, which is the date-time serial number for the time 12:00:00. | 0.5 |
| =TIMEVALUE("2021-02-24") | The function returns an invalid argument error (Err:502) because the DateTime argument contains no time component. | Err:502 |
Related LibreOffice functions:
ODF standard:
Related (or similar) Excel functions:
TIMEVALUE