age

Applies to VAST Cluster 5.5.

Functions › Date and time functions › Differences. Returns the time from one timestamp to another as an INTERVAL in calendar terms: months (a year is 12 of them), days, and a time of day. age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-02-28 23:15:00') is 10 months, 2 days and 45 minutes. With one argument, it's the age of the value at midnight at the start of today.

Syntax

age(end, start)
age(value)

Returns: INTERVAL. The Python driver returns it as MonthDayNano(months=..., days=..., nanoseconds=...); CAST(... AS VARCHAR) gives it as text.

Set up the examples

The examples connect with the ADBC driver, as in VAST Query Engine (ADBC), and work in a schema called docs_sql_fn_date_time_age. Set QE_ENDPOINT, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY and VASTDB_BUCKET (SQL reference), and run the blocks in order in one Python session. Below each block is the output you should see.

This block connects, defines the run() and plan() helpers, and creates a table of five events, each with a date (d) and a timestamp (ts). Row 4 has no values:

import os
import re

import adbc_driver_manager
import adbc_driver_manager.dbapi as dbapi
import adbc_driver_vastdb

BUCKET = os.environ["VASTDB_BUCKET"]
SCHEMA = f'"{BUCKET}/docs_sql_fn_date_time_age"'

conn = dbapi.connect(
    driver=adbc_driver_vastdb.get_driver_path(),
    db_kwargs={
        "vast.db.endpoint": os.environ["QE_ENDPOINT"],
        "vast.db.access_key": os.environ["AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"],
        "vast.db.secret_key": os.environ["AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY"],
    },
    autocommit=True,
)

def server_message(e):
    """The server's message in a driver error, without the request ID or the echoed statement."""
    text = re.sub(r"\[req=0x[0-9a-f]+\]: ", "", str(e))
    found = (re.search(r'message: "(.*?)", request_id', text, re.S)
             or re.search(r"description: (.*)\)", text, re.S))
    message = found.group(1) if found else text.strip().splitlines()[-1]
    message = re.sub(r"^Plan query: '.*?' failed with: ", "", message, flags=re.S)
    message = re.split(r"\\n|\n", message)[0].replace('\\"', '"')
    return message.replace(BUCKET, "<bucket>")

def run(sql):
    """Run one statement. Print the rows it returns, or the error."""
    try:
        with conn.cursor() as cur:
            cur.execute(sql)
            rows = cur.fetchall() if cur.description else []
    except (adbc_driver_manager.Error, OSError) as e:
        print(f"{type(e).__name__}: {server_message(e)}")
    else:
        print(rows)

def plan(sql):
    """Print the plan without its ~N Rows lines: the table's row count, which can still be 0 just after an insert."""
    with conn.cursor() as cur:
        cur.execute("EXPLAIN " + sql)
        steps = cur.fetchall()[0][1]
    print("\n".join(line for line in steps.splitlines() if "Rows" not in line))

TABLE = f"{SCHEMA}.events"
run(f"CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS {SCHEMA}")
run(f"CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS {TABLE} (id BIGINT, d DATE, ts TIMESTAMP)")
run(f"INSERT INTO {TABLE} VALUES "
    "(1, DATE '2026-02-28', TIMESTAMP '2026-02-28 23:15:00'), "
    "(2, DATE '2026-03-01', TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 08:30:45.123456'), "
    "(3, DATE '2024-12-30', TIMESTAMP '2024-12-30 12:00:00'), "
    "(4, NULL, NULL), "
    "(5, DATE '2024-02-29', TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 00:00:00')")

[]
[]
[(5,)]

What it does

age(end, start) steps from start to end in whole months first, then whole days, then the time that's left. The result keeps those three fields apart:

Years appear as 12 months each: two years is months=24. When end is before start, every field is negative.

age(value) measures from midnight at the start of today, so its result changes from one day to the next.

NULLs and edge cases

The same cases, as the cluster returns them. They use the table and helpers from Set up the examples:

run(f"SELECT id, age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', ts) FROM {TABLE} WHERE id = 4")
run("SELECT age(NULL::TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP '2026-01-01 00:00:00'), age(TIMESTAMP 'infinity', TIMESTAMP '2026-01-01 00:00:00'), "
    "age(TIMESTAMP_NS '2026-03-01 00:00:00.000000001', TIMESTAMP_NS '2026-03-01 00:00:00'), "
    "age(DATE '2026-03-01', DATE '2025-01-15')")
run("SELECT age(TIME '12:00:00', TIME '08:00:00')")
run("SELECT age('2026-03-01', '2026-01-01')")
run("SELECT age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', 'abc')")
run("SELECT age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', 123)")

[(4, None)]
[(None, None, MonthDayNano(months=0, days=0, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=13, days=17, nanoseconds=0))]
InternalError: Binder Error: No function matches the given name and argument types 'age(TIME, TIME)'. You might need to add explicit type casts.
InternalError: Binder Error: Could not choose a best candidate function for the function call "age(STRING_LITERAL, STRING_LITERAL)". In order to select one, please add explicit type casts.
OSError: invalid timestamp field format: "abc", expected format is (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.US][±HH:MM| ZONE])
InternalError: Binder Error: No function matches the given name and argument types 'age(TIMESTAMP, INTEGER_LITERAL)'. You might need to add explicit type casts.

The month-end, leap-day and negative cases from What it does, as intervals and as text:

run("SELECT age(TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-01-31 00:00:00'), "
    "age(TIMESTAMP '2026-02-28 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-01-31 00:00:00'), "
    "age(TIMESTAMP '2025-02-28 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 00:00:00'), "
    "age(TIMESTAMP '2028-02-29 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 00:00:00'), "
    "age(TIMESTAMP '2026-01-31 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00')")
run("SELECT CAST(age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-02-28 23:15:00') AS VARCHAR), "
    "CAST(age(TIMESTAMP '2026-01-31 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00') AS VARCHAR)")

[(MonthDayNano(months=1, days=1, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=0, days=28, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=11, days=28, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=48, days=0, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=-1, days=-1, nanoseconds=0))]
[('10 months 2 days 00:45:00', '-1 month -1 day')]

Examples

The time from each event to the end of 2026, from the timestamp and from the date:

run(f"SELECT id, age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', ts), age(DATE '2026-12-31', d) FROM {TABLE} ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")

[(1, MonthDayNano(months=10, days=2, nanoseconds=2700000000000), MonthDayNano(months=10, days=3, nanoseconds=0)), (2, MonthDayNano(months=9, days=29, nanoseconds=55754876544000), MonthDayNano(months=9, days=30, nanoseconds=0)), (3, MonthDayNano(months=24, days=0, nanoseconds=43200000000000), MonthDayNano(months=24, days=1, nanoseconds=0)), (4, None, None), (5, MonthDayNano(months=34, days=2, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=34, days=2, nanoseconds=0))]

The one-argument form gives an interval for each row; it equals the two-argument form measured from midnight today:

run(f"SELECT id, typeof(age(ts)), age(ts) = age(CAST(CAST(CAST(now() AS TIMESTAMP) AS DATE) AS TIMESTAMP), ts) "
    f"FROM {TABLE} ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")

[(1, 'INTERVAL', True), (2, 'INTERVAL', True), (3, 'INTERVAL', True), (4, 'INTERVAL', None), (5, 'INTERVAL', True)]

Keep only the events less than a year before the end of 2026:

run(f"SELECT id FROM {TABLE} WHERE age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', ts) < INTERVAL 1 YEAR ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")

[(1,), (2,)]

How it runs in VAST

The Query Engine runs on the cluster's CNodes, and a query on a table starts with a scan in VAST DataBase (VAST_SCAN). VAST DataBase can evaluate a comparison of a column with a constant, but not a function of a column, so age() is always computed by the Query Engine:

• In the SELECT list, the scan reads the column and the Query Engine computes age() for each row it returns.
• In WHERE, the scan sends the column for every row, and a FILTER step in the Query Engine computes age() and keeps the rows that match. No rows are skipped in storage.

The plan of the WHERE example shows the FILTER step above the scan:

plan(f"SELECT id FROM {TABLE} WHERE age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', ts) < INTERVAL 1 YEAR")

┌───────────────────────────┐
│         PROJECTION        │
│    ────────────────────   │
│             #1            │
│                           │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│           FILTER          │
│    ────────────────────   │
│ (normalized_interval(age( │
│   '2026-12-31 00:00:00':  │
│ :TIMESTAMP, ts)) < '1 year│
│        '::INTERVAL)       │
│                           │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│         VAST_SCAN         │
│    ────────────────────   │
│    Function: VAST_SCAN    │
│                           │
│        Projections:       │
│             ts            │
│             id            │
│                           │
└───────────────────────────┘

Make it faster

• Subtract the interval from the constant instead. ts > TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00' - INTERVAL 1 YEAR keeps the same rows as age(TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00', ts) < INTERVAL 1 YEAR, and it's pushed down to VAST DataBase, so rows that don't match never leave storage. Its plan has no FILTER step:

run(f"SELECT id FROM {TABLE} WHERE ts > TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00' - INTERVAL 1 YEAR ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")
plan(f"SELECT id FROM {TABLE} WHERE ts > TIMESTAMP '2026-12-31 00:00:00' - INTERVAL 1 YEAR")

[(1,), (2,)]
┌───────────────────────────┐
│         VAST_SCAN         │
│    ────────────────────   │
│    Function: VAST_SCAN    │
│      Projections: id      │
│                           │
└───────────────────────────┘

• For "in the last N days", use the current time the same way: ts > CAST(now() AS TIMESTAMP) - INTERVAL 7 DAY is pushed down too (now).

Limitations and errors

• Interval comparisons count a month as 30 days. INTERVAL 1 MONTH = INTERVAL 30 DAY and INTERVAL 1 YEAR = INTERVAL 360 DAY are both true, and INTERVAL 1 YEAR = INTERVAL 365 DAY is false. For a cut-off on the calendar, compare the timestamps, as in Make it faster.
• No time-zone support. On TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE values, such as now(), age fails with an Extension Autoloading Error. Cast the values to TIMESTAMP first; see time zones.
• No TIME values. For the time between two times of day, use date_diff with 'minute' or 'second'.

run("SELECT INTERVAL 1 MONTH = INTERVAL 30 DAY, INTERVAL 1 YEAR = INTERVAL 360 DAY, INTERVAL 1 YEAR = INTERVAL 365 DAY")
run("SELECT date_diff('minute', TIME '08:00:00', TIME '12:00:00')")

[(True, True, False)]
[(240,)]

Similar functions

run("SELECT age(TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00', TIMESTAMP '2026-01-31 00:00:00'), "
    "TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00' - TIMESTAMP '2026-01-31 00:00:00', "
    "date_sub('month', DATE '2026-01-31', DATE '2026-03-01'), date_diff('month', DATE '2026-01-31', DATE '2026-03-01')")

[(MonthDayNano(months=1, days=1, nanoseconds=0), MonthDayNano(months=0, days=29, nanoseconds=0), 1, 2)]

Clean up:

run(f"DROP TABLE IF EXISTS {TABLE}")
run(f"DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS {SCHEMA}")
conn.close()

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See also

• Date and time functions: all the date and time functions.
• Where filters run and pushdowns.
• EXPLAIN: how to read a plan.