Thread: abs function for interval

abs function for interval

From
Euler Taveira
Date:
Hi,

Sometimes you want to answer if a difference between two timestamps is
lesser than x minutes but you are not sure which timestamp is greater
than the other one (to obtain a positive result -- it is not always
possible). However, if you cannot obtain the absolute value of
subtraction, you have to add two conditions.

The attached patch implements abs function and @ operator for
intervals. The following example illustrates the use case:

postgres=# create table xpto (a timestamp, b timestamp);
CREATE TABLE
postgres=# insert into xpto (a, b) values(now(), now() - interval '1
day'),(now() - interval '5 hour', now()),(now() + '3 hour', now());
INSERT 0 3
postgres=# select *, a - b as t from xpto;
             a              |             b              |     t
----------------------------+----------------------------+-----------
 2019-10-31 22:43:30.601861 | 2019-10-30 22:43:30.601861 | 1 day
 2019-10-31 17:43:30.601861 | 2019-10-31 22:43:30.601861 | -05:00:00
 2019-11-01 01:43:30.601861 | 2019-10-31 22:43:30.601861 | 03:00:00
(3 rows)

postgres=# select *, a - b as i from xpto where abs(a - b) < interval '12 hour';
             a              |             b              |     i
----------------------------+----------------------------+-----------
 2019-10-31 17:43:30.601861 | 2019-10-31 22:43:30.601861 | -05:00:00
 2019-11-01 01:43:30.601861 | 2019-10-31 22:43:30.601861 | 03:00:00
(2 rows)

postgres=# select @ interval '1 years -2 months 3 days 4 hours -5
minutes 6.789 seconds' as t;
              t
-----------------------------
 10 mons 3 days 03:55:06.789
(1 row)


-- 
   Euler Taveira                                   Timbira -
http://www.timbira.com.br/
   PostgreSQL: Consultoria, Desenvolvimento, Suporte 24x7 e Treinamento

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Re: abs function for interval

From
Andres Freund
Date:
Hi,

On 2019-10-31 23:20:07 -0300, Euler Taveira wrote:
> diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/timestamp.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/timestamp.c
> index 1dc4c820de..a6b8b8c221 100644
> --- a/src/backend/utils/adt/timestamp.c
> +++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/timestamp.c
> @@ -2435,6 +2435,23 @@ interval_cmp(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
>      PG_RETURN_INT32(interval_cmp_internal(interval1, interval2));
>  }
>
> +Datum
> +interval_abs(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
> +{
> +    Interval   *interval = PG_GETARG_INTERVAL_P(0);
> +    Interval   *result;
> +
> +    result = palloc(sizeof(Interval));
> +    *result = *interval;
> +
> +    /* convert all struct Interval members to absolute values */
> +    result->month = (interval->month < 0) ? (-1 * interval->month) : interval->month;
> +    result->day = (interval->day < 0) ? (-1 * interval->day) : interval->day;
> +    result->time = (interval->time < 0) ? (-1 * interval->time) : interval->time;
> +
> +    PG_RETURN_INTERVAL_P(result);
> +}
> +

Several points:

1) I don't think you can do the < 0 check on an elementwise basis. Your
   code would e.g. make a hash out of abs('1 day -1 second'), by
   inverting the second, but not the day (whereas nothing should be
   done).

   It'd probably be easiest to implement this by comparing with a 0
   interval using inteval_lt() or interval_cmp_internal().

2) This will not correctly handle overflows, I believe. What happens if you
   do SELECT abs('-2147483648 days'::interval)? You probably should
   reuse interval_um() for this.


> --- a/src/test/regress/expected/interval.out
> +++ b/src/test/regress/expected/interval.out
> @@ -927,3 +927,11 @@ select make_interval(secs := 7e12);
>   @ 1944444444 hours 26 mins 40 secs
>  (1 row)
>
> +-- test absolute operator
> +set IntervalStyle to postgres;
> +select @ interval '1 years -2 months 3 days 4 hours -5 minutes 6.789 seconds' as t;
> +              t
> +-----------------------------
> + 10 mons 3 days 03:55:06.789
> +(1 row)
> +
> diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/interval.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/interval.sql
> index bc5537d1b9..8f9a2bda29 100644
> --- a/src/test/regress/sql/interval.sql
> +++ b/src/test/regress/sql/interval.sql


> @@ -308,3 +308,7 @@ select make_interval(months := 'NaN'::float::int);
>  select make_interval(secs := 'inf');
>  select make_interval(secs := 'NaN');
>  select make_interval(secs := 7e12);
> +
> +-- test absolute operator
> +set IntervalStyle to postgres;
> +select @ interval '1 years -2 months 3 days 4 hours -5 minutes 6.789 seconds' as t;
> --
> 2.11.0

This is not even remotely close to enough tests. In your only test abs()
does not change the value, as there's no negative component (the 1 year
-2 month result in a positive 10 months, and the hours, minutes and
seconds get folded together too).

At the very least a few boundary conditions need to be tested (see b)
above), a few more complicated cases with different components being
of different signs, and you need to show the values with and without
applying abs().

Greetings,

Andres Freund



Re: abs function for interval

From
Euler Taveira
Date:
Em qui, 31 de out de 2019 às 23:45, Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de> escreveu:
>
> 1) I don't think you can do the < 0 check on an elementwise basis. Your
>    code would e.g. make a hash out of abs('1 day -1 second'), by
>    inverting the second, but not the day (whereas nothing should be
>    done).
>
>    It'd probably be easiest to implement this by comparing with a 0
>    interval using inteval_lt() or interval_cmp_internal().
>
Hmm. Good idea. Let me try it.


--
   Euler Taveira                                   Timbira -
http://www.timbira.com.br/
   PostgreSQL: Consultoria, Desenvolvimento, Suporte 24x7 e Treinamento



Re: abs function for interval

From
Michael Paquier
Date:
On Fri, Nov 01, 2019 at 12:48:50AM -0300, Euler Taveira wrote:
> Hmm. Good idea. Let me try it.

Marked as RwF, as this has not been updated in four weeks.  Please
feel free to resubmit later once you have an updated version.
--
Michael

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