Timestamps

R gives us a variety of tools for working with timestamp information. Let's start off by exploring the Date object:

Dates

You can use the as$.$Date$()$ function to convert a character string to a Date object, which will allow it to contain more time information. The string will need to be in a standard time format. We can ask for today's date by asking the system $($Sys$.)$ for the Date:

Sys$.$Date$()$

$[1]"2016-05-12"$

# Set as a variable

today $<-$ Sys$.$Date$()$

today

$[1]"2016-05-12"$

You can also convert character strings in R to a Date object using as$.$Date$().$ You'll need to make sure its in the correct format, or use $\%$ symbols that correlate with your given format:

Code Value

$\%$d Day of the month $($decimal number$)$

$\%$m Month $($decimal number$)$

$\%$b Month $($abbreviated$)$

$\%$B Month $($full name$)$

$\%$y Year $(2$ digit$)$

$\%$Y Year $(4$ digit$)$