TO_TIME

Type Function

Description The overloaded function TO_TIME converts an input value of various data types into an output value of the data type TIME (see description of the input for the supported data types).

Parameters Input
IN

Data type: The function is available for the following input data types:

SINT, INT, DINT, LINT, USINT, UINT, UDINT, ULINT

STRING, WSTRING

LTIME

Output
OUT

Data type: TIME

Conversion rules ANY_INT conversion

The time conversion is based on milliseconds. A value of 1 corresponds to a time of 1 millisecond.
If the input value is outside the permissible range of the TIME output value, an overflow occurs.

Examples in ST:
out := TO_TIME(DINT#360000);   (* results in T#6m *)
out := TO_TIME(ULINT#2147483650);   (* results in T#-24d20h31m23.646s *)

LTIME conversion

If the result value is too short to hold the converted time, the time will be cut off.

If the LTIME input value is outside the permissible range of the TIME output value, an overflow occurs.

Examples in ST:
out := TO_TIME(LTIME#30h);   (* results in T#1d6h *)
out := TO_TIME(LTIME#-24d20h31m24s);   (* results in T#24d20h31m23.296s*)
out := TO_TIME(LTIME#23d17h2m47.295501s);   (* results in T#23d17h2m47.295s *); digits less than 1 ms are cut off

ANY_STRING conversion

The connected string must correspond to a valid time literal. The time literal has to be specified in the format:
   Time_prefix#value
with Time_prefix = T, t, TIME or time. The value must be a valid TIME value with unit specifier (for example, ms).
Examples: T#23s, t#5d10h

Additional characters after or before the time literal are not permitted.

All leading and trailing whitespaces in the input string are ignored in the return value.
ASCII codes regarded as whitespaces:

Character Value

Horizontal tab 9 (09h)

Line feed 10 (0Ah)

Vertical tab 11 (0Bh)

Form feed 12 (0Ch)

Carriage return 13 (0Dh)

Blank 32 (20h)

If the STRING value does not contain a valid time prefix or an empty string, the runtime error 'Format string failure' is written to the MESSAGES window and the function returns the value T#0. Program execution is not interrupted, and the controller remains in RUN state (see the note below).
Example: out := TO_TIME('aaT#3daa');   (* results in T#0 *)

If the input value exceeds the range of the TIME data type, the overflow value is returned and the runtime error 'Format string failure' occurs (see the note below).

Note
Controller stop on string error: The controller can be automatically stopped when a string error occurs. This allows you to locate the error in your project. To enable the automatic stop of the controller in case of a string error, activate the button in the Cockpit toolbar of the controller.

Error behavior Error behavior

The following table shows the errors which may occur while executing the function and the value returned by the function in the corresponding error case. As described, the value returned by the function in the error case depends on the value of the input (for example, if the input value is a non-literal string, the function returns the value 0).

Error case Output value

Overflow value Overflow value

Non-literal string 0

Additional information EN/ENO behavior

The POU is only executed if TRUE is applied to the EN input. If EN = FALSE, the POU is not executed and ENO = FALSE indicates the inactivity.

If any of the errors listed under "Error behavior" occurs while executing the function, ENO is set to FALSE.

Further Info
See the topic "General information on execution control with EN/ENO" for further details.