Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#1

Post by surfingninja » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 4:37 PM UTC

I find myself having to convert a lot of unix timestamps to a human readable format, but most of the online calculators I found don't include the micro or nanoseconds in the human readable output. It's a small detail, but I find myself having to manually space out the timestamp frequently. I'm learning frontend development, so I made this converter to hopefully make it easier to convert timestamps. Welcome to any feedback :)

Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds
justquickmath.com

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#2

Post by 2h » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

here is some Go code that does the same thing:

    package unix
    
    import "time"
    
    // 2023-03-04 11:35:43.4859519 -0600 CST
    func unix_nano(nsec int64) string {
       return time.Unix(0, nsec).String()
    }

https://godocs.io/time#Unix

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#3

Post by vhanda » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

Mate, I'm very confused.

The first result in Google [1] which I often use, lets me paste a unix timestamp in seconds, milliseconds or nano seconds, and it accordingly converts it to a Human readable string.

Is that not the feature you built this for?

[1] - https://www.epochconverter.com/

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#4

Post by surfingninja » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:42 PM UTC

vhanda wrote: post #3

Mate, I'm very confused. The first result in Google [1] which I often use, lets me paste a unix timestamp in seconds, milliseconds or nano seconds, and it accordingly converts it to a Human readable string. Is that not the feature you built this for? [1] - https://www.epochconverter.com/

Take the timestamp "1677951565000123456" for example - If I put it into the link you posted, it just gives me "Saturday, March 4, 2023 11:39:25 AM". While it's a minor drawback, it requires another step to figure out the microsecond and nansecond part of the timestamp since it's not in the output. My website would display "Saturday March 3 2023 11:39:25.000,123,456 AM -06:00 (nanos)", which gives you "000,123,456" telling you the milli,micro,nano breakdown of the timestamp

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#5

Post by bitcharmer » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:44 PM UTC

vhanda wrote: post #3

Mate, I'm very confused. The first result in Google [1] which I often use, lets me paste a unix timestamp in seconds, milliseconds or nano seconds, and it accordingly converts it to a Human readable string. Is that not the feature you built this for? [1] - https://www.epochconverter.com/

Exactly. I've been using epoch converter for years. It's the first thing that comes up in search results too.

How did this reach the front page?

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#6

Post by gdevenyi » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:45 PM UTC

Doesn't 'date' do this on the commabd line?

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#7

Post by surfingninja » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:46 PM UTC

bitcharmer wrote: post #5

vhanda wrote: post #3

Mate, I'm very confused. The first result in Google [1] which I often use, lets me paste a unix timestamp in seconds, milliseconds or nano seconds, and it accordingly converts it to a Human readable string. Is that not the feature you built this for? [1] - https://www.epochconverter.com/

Exactly. I've been using epoch converter for years. It's the first thing that comes up in search results too. How did this reach the front page?

See my other response to the parent for the reason I felt there was room to improve on the existing websites. Are there any other features you would find useful in a timestamp converter?

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#8

Post by rsaxvc » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 5:50 PM UTC

Looks like you have varying precision with date, might be using floating point?

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#9

Post by surfingninja » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 6:00 PM UTC

rsaxvc wrote: post #8

Looks like you have varying precision with date, might be using floating point?

What do you mean by varying precision? Do you have an example? Thanks

Re: Show HN: A Unix timestamp converter that includes the micro and nanoseconds

#10

Post by flatiron » Sat, Mar 04, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

Reminds me of a call I was on a few weeks ago where someone went off that Unix epoch with milliseconds wasn’t the Unix epoch. Made it a huge point that it wasn’t and would correct everyone who tried to refer to it as that. I did Google it and he technically is right. But it’s also a stupid hill to die on.