Using Strings for Timestamp Functions

Ray Deck

Today I learned in office hours that the timestamp filters (to_timestamp, format_timestamp, add_secs_to_timestamp) can take strings as inputs. The key is that the PHP Date object needs to recognize them as strings that can represent dates. (It works pretty well for most reasonable arrangements.) We can use these to import relatively standard-looking string formats that come from external APIs (or user input over the front-end!) into our timestamp fields, or manipulate them to extract years, times, etc. depending on what we need in our output or our tables. 

 showed the group this technique in our breakout room.