Feature Request- Basic Date Functions!

Question & Answer
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1

Hi QuickSight devs

  1. Can we get some basic functions to return the month number, name and weekday name already?
  2. The ability to format dates outside the few acceptable formats without breaking the visuals
  3. The ability to format date parameters.
1 Like
2

Hi @Ali_B - This is a good suggestion, if possible, can you please come up with some example so that we can request QuickSight team to add it as feature request. I am also thinking if we can have ability to create custom function and the call the function in QS, that will save lots of time as well.

Hi @DylanM @Biswajit_1993 @duncan - Any advise on this.

Regards,
Sanjeeb

3

Hi @Sanjeeb2022 , @Ali_B ,

This is a great point highlighted by @Ali_B. We need this because instead of directly performing the calculation, we’re adding new calculations in multiple steps. If we have a defined function, we can use that directly instead.

Thanks & Regards
Biswajit Dash

4

Hi Sanjeeb,

I have worked extensively with QlikView and Qlik Sense. both are good feature rich BI tools and QuickSight will benefit a lot by copying some of their functionalities.

here is how these functions work in QlikView:

monthname('19/10/2013')

Returns Oct 2013. 

month( '2012-10-12' )

returns Oct

Or you can use date formating functions like this

Date({YourDateField}, 'MMMM') 
or 
Date({YourDateField}, 'MMM')

and this will give you the long form of the month name or the short form

similarly for weekday

weekday( '1971-10-12')

returns 'Tue'

alternatively you can use the Date() formating function like this:

Date({YourDateField}, 'WWWW') or Date({YourDateField}, 'WWW)

There are so many date functions in Qlik Sense and QlikView it is difficult to mention them all. for example, you can get the Quarter start and end dates with regional settings or Week-Year just as easily while in QuickSight you need to reinvent the wheel every time you need one.

2 Likes
5

Thank you @Ali_B . Let’s wait for Quicksight team response on this.

Hi @Kristin - Need your help on this.

Regards - Sanjeeb

1 Like
6

Great suggestion - feels like a definite gap in QuickSight, but also hopefully one that is a relatively quick feature to implement?

7

Hello @Ali_B, these are all great feature suggestions that would improve the management of date fields in QuickSight. While we are unable to provide implementation timelines for feature requests, I can at least suggest some alternative options that could allow you to handle these expectations for now.

  1. Manage this in SQL for the time being. I understand the limitations here will be that the value is going to be converted to a string rather than a datetime datatype, but it would at least allow for more customization on your visuals. Depending on the datasource you utilize, the calculation may differ slightly, but the monthname calculation is going to be the best bet. If you are unable to utilize custom SQL, you can always utilize an ifelse statement in a calculated field to return a string month name or weekday name depending on the returned value of the extract function.
  2. Currently, date formats vary depending on the datasource you are utilizing. The parseDate function docs have a great list of date formats depending on the database you are connecting to. There is also helpful information in the Support Date Formats documentation. There is also some great information about formatting dates in this blog post.
  3. Some options currently exist for formatting parameter dates. There are some granularity options in the edit parameter section:
    image
    image767×347 7.75 KB

    You can also customize the date format within the control you are linking the parameter to:
    image
    Last option would be to pull the parameter into a calculated field or insight and use a function like formatDate to change the output.

These are some alternative options to handle the recommended functionality for the time being. I would recommend utilizing these suggestions for any time sensitive requirements. You can also keep an eye on the What’s New tab to stay up-to-date with new feature rollouts for QuickSight.

I will archive this feature-request topic for our support team. Thank you for your feedback!