Concepts → Date System Variable
About a date system variable
A date system variable references date or time information. Incorta offers numerous built-in data system variables. A date system variable is available to all users and all services. The Formula Builder gives you access to date system variables when building formula expressions. Incorta calculates a date system variable when invoked.
Invocation of a date system variable
Incorta is an Apache Tomcat web application that runs in a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on a host machine. By default, the JVM utilizes the host machine’s configurations for date and time.
Because a host machine may exist in another time zone, there is typically a disparity in time between a web browser on a client machine and the JVM running Incorta on the host machine.
When a date system variable is used, Incorta will base the time/date information on the host machine’s designated time zone, not the user. Incorta users should be aware of this fact when creating time sensitive formulas and filters.
The cluster time zone location is determined during the creation of your Incorta Cloud cluster. You can see the Cluster Region from the main menu of the Incorta Cloud Cluster.
Date system variable in a physical schema
If you create a formula column in a physical schema that utilizes a date system variable, the variable is interpreted at load time and stored in memory.
Date system variable in a business schema or dashboard
If you use a date system variable in a business schema or dashboard, the variable is calculated at the time of query.
List of Date System Variables
The following are the available date system variables within Incorta:
| Variable | Data Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $currentDate | date | The current date | 10/3/20 |
| $currentDay | integer | The current day; displayed as day of month | 3 |
| $currentMonth | integer | The current month | 10 |
| $currentMonthEnd | date | The last date of the current month | 10/31/20 |
| $currentMonthStart | date | The first date of the current month | 10/1/20 |
| $currentQuarter | integer | The numerical value of the current quarter | 4 |
| $currentQuarterStart | date | The first date of the current quarter | 10/1/20 |
| $currentTime | timestamp | Timestamp of current date and time | 10/7/20, 8:12:14 PM |
| $currentWeek | integer | The numerical value of the current week of the year | 40 |
| $currentWeekStart | date | The date of the first day of the current week. | 9/27/20 |
| $currentYear | integer | The current year | 2020 |
| $currentYearStart | date | The first date of the current year | 1/1/20 |
| $dayAgo | date | The date of the previous day | 10/2/20 |
| $lastMonth | integer | The numerical value of the previous month | 9 |
| $lastMonthStart | date | The first date of the previous month | 9/1/20 |
| $lastQuarter | integer | The numerical value of the previous quarter | 3 |
| $lastQuarterStart | date | The first date of the previous quarter | 7/1/20 |
| $lastWeek | integer | The numerical value of the previous week of the year | 39 |
| $lastWeekStart | date | The first date of the previous week | 9/20/20 |
| $lastYear | integer | The previous year | 2019 |
| $lastYearStart | date | The first date of the previous year | 1/1/19 |
| $monthAgo | date | The date one month ago | 9/3/20 |
| $nextMonthStart | date | The first date of the next month | 11/1/20 |
| $quarterAgo | date | The date one quarter ago | 7/3/20 |
| $weekAgo | date | The date one week ago | 9/26/20 |
| $yearAgo | date | The date one year ago | 10/3/19 |
Date system variable formatting
If you are using a date system variable as the output of a formula column, the format can be edited in the properties panel of the Analyzer. The data type of a date system variable will determine which format properties can be used.
Fiscal Calendar Support
For customers with fiscal calendars that have a fiscal offset in months, administrators can enable native fiscal calendar support. This feature simplifies the setup and consumption of fiscal calendars in Incorta and allows for the rollup of transactional data into fiscal calendars.
You can define the start of the fiscal year using the Fiscal Year option in the Cluster Management Console (CMC), under Cluster Configurations > Server Configurations > Customizations.
Once enabled, date filters and date aggregations will honor fiscal calendars. You can also apply different fiscal-calendar formats depending on the selected Date Part, such as short fiscal year (FYYY), fiscal year range (FYYY-YY), fiscal quarter (FQ#), and fiscal period (FMMM).
You can use these new variables and date parts along with the existing ones to create comparisons between fiscal and Gregorian calendars. In addition, the ago and toDate functions now support the fiscal calendar.
The following system variables are now available in Incorta to support fiscal years, quarters, and periods:
| Fiscal year | Fiscal quarter | Fiscal month |
|---|---|---|
| currentFiscalYear | currentFiscalQuarter | currentFiscalMonth |
| currentFiscalYearStart | currentFiscalQuarterStart | currentFiscalMonthStart |
| currentFiscalYearEnd | currentFiscalQuarterEnd | currentFiscalMonthEnd |
| nextFiscalYear | nextFiscalQuarter | nextFiscalMonth |
| nextFiscalYearStart | nextFiscalQuarterStart | nextFiscalMonthStart |
| lastFiscalYear | lastFiscalQuarter | lastFiscalMonth |
| lastFiscalYearStart | lastFiscalQuarterStart | lastFiscalMonthStart |
The following format options are available for fiscal date parts:
| Date part | New format options | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | ● Long Year > YYYY ● Long Fiscal Year > FYYYYY ● Short Fiscal Year > FYYY ● Year Range > YYYY-YY ● Fiscal Year Range > FYYY-YY | ● 2023 ● FY2023 ● FY23 ● 2022-23 ● FY22-23 |
| Fiscal quarter | ● No format > # ● Quarter > Q# ● Fiscal Quarter > FQ# | ● 1 ● Q1 ● FQ1 |
| Fiscal period | ● No format > # ● Period > M# ● Fiscal Period > FM# ● Short Fiscal Period > FMMM ● Long Fiscal Period > FMMMM | ● 1 ● M1 ● FM1 ● Apr ● April |