Representing and Processing Time & Dates

Time Data Types

(Some of the features explained in this post are available in the next Bossam release.)

With Bossam, time data can be represented and processed. The following time types supported.

Date (corresponds to xsd:date)

• Syntax: yyyy-MM-dd
• Example: 2004-10-09

Time (corresponds to xsd:time)

• Syntax: HH:mm:ss
• Example: 22:10:30

DateTime (corresponds to xsd:dateTime)

• Syntax: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss
• Example: 2004-10-09T22:10:30

Time Duration (corresponds to xsd:duration)

(refer to XSD Duration on how to write time durations)

• ex1) P10Y9M8DT10H9M8S represents 10 years 9 months 8 days 10 hours 9 minutes 8 seconds.
• ex2) P10Y8DT10H represents 10 years 8 days 10 hours.
• ex1) P10Y9M8D represents 10 years 9 months 8 days.
• ex1) PT10H9S represents 10 hours 9 seconds.

Getting the Current Time/Date

Three builtin functions are available for getting the current time, current date, and current dateTime, as follows.
The namespace URI, http://www.etri.re.kr/2003/10/bossam-builtin#, is the reserved namespace for designating Bossam’s builtin functions. Let’s assume func corresponds to http://www.etri.re.kr/2003/10/bossam-builtin#.

• func:thisTime(): returns the current time
• func:thisDate(): returns the current date
• func:thisDateTime(): returns the current date-time

Builtin Functions for Comparing Date/Time

There are three builtin functions for processing time data.

• func:after(time-const1,time-const2)
  • returns true if time-const1 follows time-const2
• func:before(time-const1,time-const2)
  • returns true if time-const1 precedes time-const2
• func:containedIn(time-const1,time-begin,time-end)
  • returns true if time-const1 is in the duration formed by time-begin and time-end

A sample rulebase utilizing time constants is shown below.

prefix xsd = http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#;
prefix rdfs = http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#;
prefix func = http://www.etri.re.kr/2003/10/bossam-builtin#;
namespace is http://etri.re.kr/2003/10/Bossam#;
rulebase TimeConstants
{
 class Person;
 property birthdate for Person is xsd:date;
 individual John is Person and birthdate = 1970-10-05;
 individual Sam is Person and birthdate = 1970-05-05;

 rule r1 is
 if
  birthdate(?x,?date1) and birthdate(?y,?date2)
  and [func:after(?date1,?date2) = true]
 then
  isYoungerThan(?x,?y);

 rule r2 is
 if
  birthdate(?x,?date1) and birthdate(?y,?date2)
  and [func:before(?date1,?date2) = true]
 then
  isOlderThan(?x,?y);

 fact f01 is beginsAt(MeetingA,2005-10-04T12:00:00);
 fact f02 is endsAt(MeetingA,2005-10-04T15:00:00);
 fact f03 is beginsAt(MeetingB,2005-10-04T14:00:00);
 fact f04 is endsAt(MeetingB,2005-10-04T17:00:00);
 fact f05 is beginsAt(MeetingC,2005-10-04T16:00:00);
 fact f06 is endsAt(MeetingC,2005-10-04T17:00:00);

 rule CompatibleMeetings is
 if
  endsAt(?m1,?t1) and beginsAt(?m2,?t2)
  and [func:after(?t2,?t1) = true]
 then
  Compatible(?m1,?m2);
}

Expressions on Time Data

Simple addition and subtraction on time and duration can be processed.

Calculating Time Difference

By subtracting a time from another time, it’s possible to calculate the difference between the two time points. Some examples follow:

• 2005-10-20 - 2005-09-10 gives P0Y0M40DT0H0M0S which is 40 days.
• 23:10:20 - 10:30:40 gives P0Y0M0DT12H39M40S which is 12 hours 39 minutes 40 seconds.
• 2007-12-31T24:00:00 - 2007-02-20T10:48:18 gives P0Y0M314DT13H11M42S which is 314 days 13 hours 11 minutes 42 seconds.

As such, it’s possible to get a time difference between two points in time.

Forwarding and Backwarding Times

By adding a duration to a time, we get a forwarded time. By subtracting a duration from a time, we get a bacwarded time. Addition examples follow:

• 0003-12-10 + P1Y1M1D gives 0005-01-11.
• 0003-12-10 + P13M9D gives 0005-01-19.
• 12:10:20 + PT1H1M1S gives 13:11:21.
• 12:10:20 + PT13H20M30S gives 01:30:50.
• 0003-12-10T12:10:20 + P1Y1M1DT1H1M1S gives 0005-01-11T13:11:21.
• 0003-12-10T12:10:20 + P1Y13M2DT13H20M30S gives 0006-01-13T01:30:50.

Subtraction examples follow:

• 0003-12-10 - P1Y1M1D gives 0002-11-09.
• 0003-12-10 - P13M9D gives 0002-11-01.
• 12:10:20 - PT1H1M1S gives 11:09:19.
• 12:10:20 - PT13H20M30S gives 22:49:50.
• 0003-12-10T12:10:20 - P1Y1M1DT1H1M1S gives 0002-11-09T11:09:19.
• 0003-12-10T12:10:20 - P1Y13M2DT13H20M30S gives 0001-11-07T22:49:50.

Some rule examples are as follows.

fact f is time(2002-10-10);
fact g is time(2002-12-31);
rule r is
   if time(?t1) and time(?t2)
   then result([?t1 - ?t2]);

fact f is time(2002-10-10);
fact g is duration(P10Y3M);
rule r is
   if time(?t) and duration(?d)
   then result([?t - ?d]);

fact f is time(12:30:00);
fact g is duration(PT1H30M);
rule r is
   if time(?t) and duration(?d)
   then result([?t + ?d]);

fact f is time(2002-10-10T12:30:00);
fact g is duration(P10DT1H30M);
rule r is
   if time(?t) and duration(?d)
   then result([?t - ?d]);