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More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 25 for Windows => Topic started by: Moe on August 29, 2019, 05:07:56 pm

Title: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: Moe on August 29, 2019, 05:07:56 pm

I want to set up a new field that takes the current time and adds the duration of a movie/TV show to display what time the movie/show will end.

For the life of me I can't get it figured out. 

I have this

Code: [Select]

math(now() + ([Duration,0]))
Which I believe is giving me the correct floating point number (I think that's the right terminology).  I setup a now() expression column and another one right next to it using the code above and the second column it a larger value, so it looks like it's doing math anyway.

The problem is whenever I try and incorporate formatdate() I get some weird results.

As an example, I tried

Code: [Select]

FormatDate(math(now() + (  [Duration,0])),h:mm)
And all that does is return the current time.

Any help would be appreciated. 

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: blgentry on August 29, 2019, 06:48:18 pm

The problem here is the Duration field format.  In "raw" form it is in seconds.  But MC's internal date format is a bit unusual.  It represents days as integer days since the epoch.  The decimal part of an MC "date" is the hours, minutes, and seconds represented as a decimal.  So 12 noon is "0.5". 

Thus, you need to divide seconds by the number of seconds in a day in order to get the correct fraction.  That will then add correctly and give you end end time you desire.  This expression works:

Code: [Select]

FormatDate(math(now() + ([Duration,0]/86400)),hh:mm)
Brian.

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: Moe on August 29, 2019, 08:43:13 pm

That works perfect.

Thank you!  I highly doubt I would have ever gotten there on my own. 

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: blgentry on August 30, 2019, 07:10:37 am

You are welcome.

I think you would have eventually gotten it.  You seem to understand MC and the expression language pretty well. 

Anyway, glad to have helped with a neat idea.

Brian.

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: lepa on August 31, 2019, 07:41:35 am

Good idea, Moe.
Countries which are using comma separator with number will also need to use Replace() function to change commas to periods as Math() only accepts periods as decimal separator.
So:
FormatDate(Math(Replace(Now(),/,,.) + (Replace([Duration,0],/,,.)/86400)),HH:mm)

Using "HH" here instead of "hh" makes MC use 24h clock. Choice is yours

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: arcspin on August 31, 2019, 02:00:39 pm

This is great,
I used this expression with great success: FormatDate(Math(Replace(Now(),/,,.) + (Replace([Duration,0],/,,.)/86400)),HH:mm)
I live in Sweden.

Many thanks to Moe for a great idea and lepa and blgentry for a perfect expression.


I love JRiver and all the great people in this forum!

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: lepa on August 31, 2019, 02:18:01 pm

Cool! That black and red reminds me somehow of 80's stereo leds and such. In a good way of course :)

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: thorsten on September 01, 2019, 02:53:27 pm

Fantastic new feature, you guys are awesome!

Title: Re: Expression help using now() and math()
Post by: james.smth on September 03, 2019, 03:03:12 pm

I use it like this:

Code: [Select]

FormatDate(Math(Replace(Now(),/,,.) + (Replace([Duration,0],/,,.)*(100-[Progress Percent])/8640000)),HH:mm)
Where [Progress Percent] is [Bookmark Percent] from this thread: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,85974.0.html