MATLAB Programming

Dates and Times
Dates and Times
MATLAB represents date and time information in either of three formats:
date strings, serial date numbers, or date vectors. You have the choice of using
anyoftheseformats.Ifyouworkwithmorethanonedateandtimeformat,
MATLAB provides functions to help you easily convert from one format to
another, (e.g., from a string to a serial date number).
When using date strings, you have an additional option of choosing from 19
different string styles to express date and/or time information.
This section covers the following topics:
• “Types of Date Formats” on page 2-67
• “Conversions Between Date Formats” on page 2-69
• “Date String Formats” on page 2-69
• “OutputFormats”onpage2-70
• “Current Date and Time” on page 2-72
• “Function Summary” on page 2-72
TypesofDateFormats
ThethreeMATLABdateandtimeformatsare
• “Date Strings” on page 2-68
• “Serial Date Numbers” on page 2-68
• “Date Vectors” on page 2-68
This table shows examples of the three formats.
Date Format
Date string
Example
02-Oct-1996
Serial date number 729300
Date vector 1996 10 2 0 0 0
2-67