years(X;Y)

Returns the number of years between two date-related values.

Syntax

years(X;Y)

Input

Argument Type Description
X any numeric type A scalar value or the name of a column containing date-related values
Valid values can be of the form:
  • date
  • month
  • quarter
  • year
Y any numeric type A scalar value or the name of a column containing date-related values
Valid values can be of the form:
  • date
  • month
  • quarter
  • year

For more information, see Dates and time.

Return Value

Returns the integer value corresponding to the number of years between the two date-related values given as input.
Note: For month, quarter, or year input values, the first date of the period is used for the calculation.

If the input values are not in one of the supported formats listed above, the function returns an erroneous or illogical output.

Example

In the Monthly Statewide Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Statistics table (pub.fin.fred2.bls.smsa), you can create a computed column that displays an integer value corresponding to the number of years between 1976 and the month value in the column named month:

<base table="pub.fin.fred2.bls.smsa"/>
<willbe name="example" value="years('1976';month)" label="Years`Since 1976"/>
<colord cols="month,example"/>

For a month value of 10/77 (X=197710), the result would be 1. (There is 1 year from 1976 to 1977.)

For a month value of 10/13 (X=201310), the result would be 37. (There are 37 years from 1976 to 2013.)