minute

Applies to VAST Cluster 5.5.

Functions › Date and time functions › Parts of a date or time. Returns the minute of a timestamp or time of day, from 0 to 59, or the minutes of an interval.

Syntax

minute(value)

Returns: BIGINT.

Same as: date_part('minute', value) and extract(minute FROM value); see date_part.

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_minute. 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 has a date (d), a timestamp (ts), a time of day (t) and a timestamp with nanoseconds (tns). Row 4 has no values, and row 5 is the last moment of 1969:

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_minute"'

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, t TIME, tns TIMESTAMP_NS)")
run(f"INSERT INTO {TABLE} VALUES "
    "(1, DATE '2026-02-28', TIMESTAMP '2026-02-28 23:15:00', TIME '23:15:00', "
    "CAST('2026-02-28 23:15:00.123456789' AS TIMESTAMP_NS)), "
    "(2, DATE '2026-03-01', TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 08:30:45.123456', TIME '08:30:45.123456', "
    "CAST('2026-03-01 08:30:45.123456' AS TIMESTAMP_NS)), "
    "(3, DATE '2024-12-30', TIMESTAMP '2024-12-30 12:00:00', TIME '12:00:00', "
    "CAST('2024-12-30 12:00:00' AS TIMESTAMP_NS)), "
    "(4, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL), "
    "(5, DATE '1969-12-31', TIMESTAMP '1969-12-31 23:59:59.999999', TIME '23:59:59.999999', "
    "CAST('1969-12-31 23:59:59.999999999' AS TIMESTAMP_NS))")

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[(5,)]

What it does

minute returns the minute of a timestamp or time of day: minute(TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 13:45:30') and minute(TIME '13:45:30') are both 45. It works on every timestamp precision (TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP_NS, TIMESTAMP_MS, TIMESTAMP_S). A DATE has no time, so its minute is always 0.

On an INTERVAL, minute returns the minutes within the hour of its time part. Unlike hour, it wraps:

For the total length of an interval in minutes, take its epoch and divide by 60: extract(epoch FROM INTERVAL 90 MINUTE) is 5400.0 seconds.

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, minute(ts), minute(t) FROM {TABLE} WHERE id = 4")
run("SELECT minute(DATE 'infinity'), minute(TIMESTAMP '-infinity'), minute(DATE '2026-03-01'), minute(TIME '00:59:00'), "
    "minute(TIMESTAMP '1969-12-31 23:59:59.999999'), minute(TIMETZ '13:45:30.123456+02:30')")
run("SELECT minute(INTERVAL '1 year 2 months 3 days 04:05:06.789'), minute(INTERVAL '90 minutes'), "
    "minute(INTERVAL '-90 minutes'), minute(INTERVAL '25 months 40 days 30 hours'), extract(epoch FROM INTERVAL 90 MINUTE)")
run("SELECT minute(NULL)")
run("SELECT minute('13:45:30')")
run("SELECT minute(123)")

[(4, None, None)]
[(None, None, 0, 59, 59, 45)]
[(5, 30, -30, 0, 5400.0)]
InternalError: Binder Error: Could not choose a best candidate function for the function call "minute("NULL")". In order to select one, please add explicit type casts.
InternalError: Binder Error: Could not choose a best candidate function for the function call "minute(STRING_LITERAL)". In order to select one, please add explicit type casts.
InternalError: Binder Error: No function matches the given name and argument types 'minute(INTEGER_LITERAL)'. You might need to add explicit type casts.

Examples

The minute of each event's timestamp and time of day:

run(f"SELECT id, minute(ts), minute(t) FROM {TABLE} ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")

[(1, 15, 15), (2, 30, 30), (3, 0, 0), (4, None, None), (5, 59, 59)]

Keep only the events in the first quarter of an hour (minutes 0 to 14):

run(f"SELECT id FROM {TABLE} WHERE minute(ts) < 15 ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")

[(3,)]

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 minute() is always computed by the Query Engine:

• In the SELECT list, the scan reads the column and the Query Engine computes minute() for each row it returns.
• In WHERE, the scan sends the column for every row, and a FILTER step in the Query Engine computes minute() 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 minute(ts) < 15")

┌───────────────────────────┐
│         PROJECTION        │
│    ────────────────────   │
│             #1            │
│                           │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│           FILTER          │
│    ────────────────────   │
│    ("minute"(ts) < 15)    │
│                           │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│         VAST_SCAN         │
│    ────────────────────   │
│    Function: VAST_SCAN    │
│                           │
│        Projections:       │
│             ts            │
│             id            │
│                           │
└───────────────────────────┘

Make it faster

• Combine it with a range on the raw column. In ts >= TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00' AND ts < TIMESTAMP '2026-03-02 00:00:00' AND minute(ts) < 15, the range is still evaluated in VAST DataBase, so minute() runs only on the rows of that day. The plan's FILTER step holds only the minute() condition:

plan(f"SELECT id FROM {TABLE} WHERE ts >= TIMESTAMP '2026-03-01 00:00:00' AND ts < TIMESTAMP '2026-03-02 00:00:00' "
     "AND minute(ts) < 15")

┌───────────────────────────┐
│         PROJECTION        │
│    ────────────────────   │
│             #1            │
│                           │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│           FILTER          │
│    ────────────────────   │
│    ("minute"(ts) < 15)    │
│                           │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
│         VAST_SCAN         │
│    ────────────────────   │
│    Function: VAST_SCAN    │
│                           │
│        Projections:       │
│             ts            │
│             id            │
│                           │
└───────────────────────────┘

• Store the minute if you filter on it often. Compute it when you write the rows and keep it in its own column: event_minute < 15 is pushed down, minute(ts) < 15 isn't.

Limitations and errors

• No time-zone support. On a TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE value, such as now(), minute fails with an Extension Autoloading Error. Cast the value to TIMESTAMP first; see time zones.
• TIMESTAMP_NS just before 1970. Row 5's tns, 1969-12-31 23:59:59.999999999, gives 0, not 59. Store such values as TIMESTAMP if you need their minute.
• One argument. minute(ts, ts) fails with No function matches the given name and argument types 'minute(TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP)'.

run(f"SELECT id, minute(tns), minute(ts) FROM {TABLE} ORDER BY id LIMIT 10")
run(f"SELECT minute(ts, ts) FROM {TABLE} LIMIT 1")

[(1, 15, 15), (2, 30, 30), (3, 0, 0), (4, None, None), (5, 0, 59)]
InternalError: Binder Error: No function matches the given name and argument types 'minute(TIMESTAMP, TIMESTAMP)'. You might need to add explicit type casts.

Similar functions

run("SELECT minute(TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 13:45:30.123456'), hour(TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 13:45:30.123456'), "
    "second(TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 13:45:30.123456'), date_trunc('minute', TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 13:45:30.123456'), "
    "strftime(TIMESTAMP '2024-02-29 13:45:30.123456', '%M')")

[(45, 13, 30, datetime.datetime(2024, 2, 29, 13, 45), '45')]

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_part: any part of a value, by name.
• Date and time functions: all the date and time functions.
• Where filters run and pushdowns.
• EXPLAIN: how to read a plan.