Difference between two dates in MySQL

Question

How to calculate the difference between two dates, in the format YYYY-MM-DD hh: mm: ss and to get the result in seconds or milliseconds?

Answer 1

SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(HOUR,NOW(),'2013-05-15 10:23:23')
   calculates difference in hour.(for days--> you have to define day replacing hour
SELECT DATEDIFF('2012-2-2','2012-2-1')

SELECT TO_DAYS ('2012-2-2')-TO_DAYS('2012-2-1')

Answer 2

select TO_CHAR(TRUNC(SYSDATE)+(to_date( '31-MAY-2012 12:25', 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI') 
                             - to_date( '31-MAY-2012 10:37', 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI')), 
        'HH24:MI:SS') from dual

-- result : 01:48:00

OK it's not quite what the OP asked, but it's what I wanted to do :-)

Answer 3

You would simply do this:

SELECT (end_time - start_time) FROM t; -- return in Millisecond
SELECT (end_time - start_time)/1000 FROM t; -- return in Second

Answer 4

SELECT TIMEDIFF('2007-12-31 10:02:00','2007-12-30 12:01:01');
-- result: 22:00:59, the difference in HH:MM:SS format


SELECT TIMESTAMPDIFF(SECOND,'2007-12-30 12:01:01','2007-12-31 10:02:00'); 
-- result: 79259  the difference in seconds

So, you can use TIMESTAMPDIFF for your purpose.

Answer 5

Or, you could use TIMEDIFF function

mysql> SELECT TIMEDIFF('2000:01:01 00:00:00', '2000:01:01 00:00:00.000001');
'-00:00:00.000001'
mysql> SELECT TIMEDIFF('2008-12-31 23:59:59.000001' , '2008-12-30 01:01:01.000002');
 '46:58:57.999999'

Answer 6

If you are working with DATE columns (or can cast them as date columns), try DATEDIFF() and then multiply by 24 hours, 60 min, 60 secs (since DATEDIFF returns diff in days). From MySQL:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/date-and-time-functions.html

for example:

mysql> SELECT DATEDIFF('2007-12-31 23:59:59','2007-12-30 00:00:00') * 24*60*60