mt (mask time) processing code

The mt processing code invokes the time conversion function to convert external time representations to internal format or to convert internal time values to one of a variety of external time formats.

The internal time format is the number of seconds from midnight. The external time format is 24-hour military format (for example, 23:25:59) or 12-hour format (for example, 11:25:59PM).

For input-conversion, the time is entered with am or pm immediately following the numeric time. If none is entered, am is assumed. On output, am or pm is always printed immediately following the numeric time.

Note: 12:00AM is midnight and 12:00PM is noon. AM and PM are ignored on input if the mt code is specified. Illegal values are converted to null on input.

When used as an input-conversion, the mt code validates the time and converts it to the internal format of seconds from midnight. When updating a field controlled by an mt conversion, the / character can be used to insert the current time into the attribute.

System Processors Update, List
Code Type Attribute Defining
Dictionary Attributes Input Conversion, Output Conversion, Correlative

Syntax

mt{h}{s}

Parameter(s)

h Specifies a 12-hour clock. Default is (military) a 24-hour clock. When specifying the h parameter, the range of values for the internal format representation are from 0 to 86399.
s Includes seconds in output value. If omitted, seconds are not listed on output.

Example(s)

Data Code Sample Output
3600 mt 01:00
3600 mth 01:00am
3600 mts 01:00:00
3600 mths 01:00:00am
46800 mt 13:00
46800 mth 01:00pm
3630 mts 01:00:30
46800 mths 01:00:00pm