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# DateParse

> Use the Sigma DateParse function to parse a text string representing a date in the specified format and return the equivalent ISO datetime value.

> **Info**
>
> This function isn't compatible with all data platform connections. To check if your connection supports it, see [Supported data platforms and feature compatibility](/docs/region-warehouse-and-feature-support#supported-data-platforms-and-feature-compatibility).

The **DateParse** function parses a text string representing a date in the specified format and returns the equivalent ISO datetime value (`YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`).

> **Tip**
>
> If the input is a text or number value that reflects ISO (`YYYY-MM-DD` or `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`) or Unix time format, you can use the **[Date](/docs/date)** function, which doesn't require you to specify the input format.

## Syntax

```sigma
DateParse(text, format)
```

### Function arguments

|            |                                                                |
| :--------- | :------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **text**   | (Required) The text string or column of text strings to parse. |
| **format** | (Required) The datetime format of the text string.             |

### Compatible format specifiers

The **DateParse** function uses the datetime formatting functionality of the connected

CDW

or

DBMS

. The following format specifiers are supported by most connections and can be used to build the datetime format string.

> **Warning**
>
> BigQuery doesn't support the `%L` and `%f` specifiers.

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>
        Format
      </th>

      <th>
        Description
      </th>

      <th>
        Example output

        \


        *(for 2018-07-08 00:34:59)*
      </th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>
        %Y
      </td>

      <td>
        Four-digit year
      </td>

      <td>
        2018
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %y
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit year
      </td>

      <td>
        18
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %m
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit month
      </td>

      <td>
        07
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %B
      </td>

      <td>
        Full month name
      </td>

      <td>
        July
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %b
      </td>

      <td>
        Abbreviated month name
      </td>

      <td>
        Jul
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %A
      </td>

      <td>
        Full day of week
      </td>

      <td>
        Sunday
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %a
      </td>

      <td>
        Abbreviated day of week
      </td>

      <td>
        Sun
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %d
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit day of month (01-31)
      </td>

      <td>
        08
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %H
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit hour based on 24-hour clock (00–23)
      </td>

      <td>
        00
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %I
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit hour based on 12-hour clock (01–12)
      </td>

      <td>
        12
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %M
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit minutes (00–59)
      </td>

      <td>
        34
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %S
      </td>

      <td>
        Two-digit seconds (00–59)
      </td>

      <td>
        59
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %p
      </td>

      <td>
        AM or PM
      </td>

      <td>
        AM
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %L
      </td>

      <td>
        Three-digit milliseconds (000–999)
      </td>

      <td>
        000
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %f
      </td>

      <td>
        Six-digit microseconds (000000–999999)
      </td>

      <td>
        000000
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %Z
      </td>

      <td>
        Time zone offset
      </td>

      <td>
        -07:00
      </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>
        %%
      </td>

      <td>
        Percent symbol
      </td>

      <td>
        %
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

> **Info**
>
> Because two-digit years converted with the `%y` conversion are ambiguous, dates with a `%y` of 00–69 convert to 2000–2069 and dates with a `%y` of 70–99 convert to 1970–1999.

## Examples

### Example 1

```sigma
DateParse("03-Sep-2020:03:05:13", "%d-%b-%Y:%H:%M:%S")
```

Parses the text string `"03-Sep-2020:03:05:13"` and returns the equivalent ISO datetime value `2020-09-03 03:05:13`.

### Example 2

```sigma
DateParse([Text Date], "%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S")
```

Parses text strings in the *Text Date* column using the specified format (`%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S`) and returns equivalent values in ISO datetime format.

![](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sigma.docs.buildwithfern.com/7e8df85f5ff3e9961208bd11dd7ddb6a04301baa2c4d1972b2cd78fd72cf130f/assets/docs-images/8523d05-image.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20261007%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261007T064039Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=00396ae397c0f742cf8402c1f3d1cedcd4eb23efeacc617d81c2c7cf10c97d08&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

### Example 3

```sigma
DateParse([Text Date], "%d/%b/%Y")
```

Parses text strings in the *Text Date* column using the specified format (`%d/%b/%Y`) and returns the equivalent values in ISO date time format.

![](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/sigma.docs.buildwithfern.com/ce0755b408dba7d33f590dfcb7ee13199c98d8d19ebae49ceeed98efdc7a9195/assets/docs-images/ea5efcb-image.png?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20261007%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261007T064039Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=7b0a5b581bb5f5074552ce4e4f48d50135381b0290e419ee4e58110cb7c5ceed&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

## Related resources

* [Date functions overview](/docs/date-functions-overview)
* [Supported data types and formats](/docs/data-types-and-formats)
* [Date](/docs/date)