> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.emobiq.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.emobiq.com/emobiq-client/006-actions-and-visual-logic/action-reference/react-native/datetime/difference.md).

# difference

## Description

Computes the difference between two dates or datetimes.

## Input / Parameter

| Name        | Description                                                     | Input Type | Default             | Options                                                                | Required |
| ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- |
| date1       | The date to be subtracted from the second date.                 | Text       | -                   | -                                                                      | Yes      |
| dateFormat1 | The date and/or time format to use.                             | Text       | yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss | yyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss, yyyy-MM-dd, HH:mm:ss, y, M, d, h, H, m, s, S, E, z | No       |
| date2       | The date to subtract the first date from.                       | Text       | -                   | -                                                                      | Yes      |
| dateFormat2 | The date and/or time format to use.                             | Text       | yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss | yyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss, yyyy-MM-dd, HH:mm:ss, y, M, d, h, H, m, s, S, E, z | No       |
| interval    | The type of time interval to be used to compute the difference. | Text       | Days                | Days, Years, Months, Weeks, Hours, Minutes, Seconds                    | No       |

### Supported date pattern letters

#### Years:

* `YYYY`: 4-digit year (e.g., 2021)
* `YY`: 2-digit year (e.g., 21 for 2021)

#### Months:

* `MMMM`: Full month name (e.g., January, February)
* `MMM`: Short month name (e.g., Jan, Feb)
* `MM`: Month as a 2-digit number (01 for January)
* `M`: Month as a number (1 for January)

#### Days:

* `DD`: Day of the month as a 2-digit number (e.g., 09)
* `D`: Day of the month as a number (e.g., 9)
* `dddd`: Full day name (e.g., Monday, Tuesday)
* `ddd`: Short day name (e.g., Mon, Tue)

#### Hours:

* `HH`: Hours (24-hour clock) as a 2-digit number
* `H`: Hours (24-hour clock) as a number
* `hh`: Hours (12-hour clock) as a 2-digit number
* `h`: Hours (12-hour clock) as a number

#### Minutes:

* `mm`: Minutes as a 2-digit number
* `m`: Minutes as a number

#### Seconds:

* `ss`: Seconds as a 2-digit number
* `s`: Seconds as a number

#### AM/PM:

* `A`: AM/PM uppercase
* `a`: am/pm lowercase

#### Time Zone:

* `Z`: UTC offset (e.g., +07:00)
* `ZZ`: UTC offset in a compact format (e.g., +0700)

These symbols can be combined in any way to match the format of your input date string. For example:

* `YYYY-MM-DD`: Represents dates like "2021-03-14"
* `dddd, MMMM Do YYYY, h:mm:ss a`: Represents dates like "Sunday, March 14th 2021, 5:30:45 pm"

Remember, the format in parameter `dateFormat1` should match the structure of `date1` you're parsing, the same is also true for `dateFormat2` and `date2`.

## Output

| Description                                                                                           | Output Type |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| Returns the difference in the date or datetime values based on the type of time interval(s) selected. | Number      |

## Example

In this example, we will get the difference between 2 dates (in days) and print the result in the console.

### Step

1. Drag a `button` component into the canvas and open the `Action` tab. Select the `press` event of the button and drag the `Log.write` function to the event flow.
2. Call the function `DateTime.difference` inside the `Log.write` function.
3. Sample parameters are shown in the picture below.

   ![](/files/oSwj0XcE7hzfcILsFRsw)

### Result

1. The console will print the difference between the two dates passed.

   ![](/files/XgxA68OadVqLdBNzPfkN)