Duration Constructor Block

Where Is It?

The Duration Constructor block is located in the data statements drawer of the Blawx toolbox, in the date sub-drawer.

What Does It Do?

The Duration Constructor block is used to dynamically generate a duration value.

Technical Details

The Duration Constructor block is a value block that can be used anywhere a duration value block can be used, and returns a duration value.

The Duration Constructor block has seven inputs, which accept number values or variables.

While the duration constructor block will accept any numerical values, a duration value will only be valid if:

• the sign value is either 1 (for into the future) or -1 (for into the past)
• the years, months, and days, hours and minutes are non-negative integers
• the seconds value is a non-negative number

Tips

If you are not using variables in your duration constructor, you are better off using the duration value block, which will do more validation of your input to make sure it is a valid duration.

The use of durations including year and month values is not recommended, as they tend to behave in unpredictable ways, given that months and years are not of a consistent duration.