UniversityAPI ReferenceAXEL Date & Time Functions - Complete Time Intelligence

AXEL Date & Time Functions - Complete Time Intelligence

API Reference
10 min read
Updated December 5, 2025

AXEL Date & Time Functions

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📅 Date & Time Intelligence (26 Functions)

Comprehensive time-based analysis with these powerful functions.

Date Construction & Extraction

DATE

Create a date from year, month, day components.

DATE(2024, 12, 25)

Returns: December 25, 2024
Use Cases: Dynamic date creation, calculations


YEAR / MONTH / DAY

Extract date components.

YEAR(DATE(2024, 6, 15))  -- Returns: 2024
MONTH(DATE(2024, 6, 15)) -- Returns: 6
DAY(DATE(2024, 6, 15))   -- Returns: 15

HOUR / MINUTE / SECOND

Extract time components.

HOUR([DateTime])   -- Returns: 0-23
MINUTE([DateTime]) -- Returns: 0-59
SECOND([DateTime]) -- Returns: 0-59

QUARTER / WEEKDAY

Period identification.

QUARTER(DATE(2024, 6, 15)) -- Returns: 2 (Q2)
WEEKDAY(DATE(2024, 6, 15))  -- Returns: 1-7

Date Calculations

DATEDIFF

Calculate difference between dates.

DATEDIFF(DATE(2024, 1, 1), DATE(2024, 12, 31), "DAY")

Returns: 365 (days between dates)
Units: "YEAR", "MONTH", "DAY", "HOUR", "MINUTE", "SECOND"


DATEADD

Add/subtract time intervals.

DATEADD([DateTable], 7, "DAY")

Use Cases: Date projections, period shifts


CALENDAR / CALENDARAUTO

Generate date tables.

CALENDAR(DATE(2024, 1, 1), DATE(2024, 12, 31))
CALENDARAUTO() -- Auto-detects range

Time Intelligence - Cumulative

TOTALYTD / TOTALQTD / TOTALMTD

Calculate period-to-date totals.

TOTALYTD(SUM([Sales].Amount), [Date].Date)
TOTALQTD(SUM([Sales].Amount), [Date].Date)
TOTALMTD(SUM([Sales].Amount), [Date].Date)

DATESYTD / DATESMTD

Get period-to-date dates.

DATESYTD([Date].Date)
DATESMTD([Date].Date)

Period Functions

DATESBETWEEN

Dates within specific range.

DATESBETWEEN([Date].Date, DATE(2024, 1, 1), DATE(2024, 1, 31))

DATESINPERIOD

Moving time windows.

DATESINPERIOD([Date].Date, MAX([Date].Date), -30, "DAY")

Use Cases: Rolling averages, lookback periods

Period Comparisons

SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR

Year-over-year comparison.

CALCULATE(
    SUM([Sales].Amount),
    SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR([Date].Date)
)

PREVIOUSMONTH / PREVIOUSYEAR

Sequential period comparison.

CALCULATE(
    SUM([Sales].Amount),
    PREVIOUSMONTH([Date].Date)
)

PARALLELPERIOD

Custom period offset.

CALCULATE(
    SUM([Sales].Amount),
    PARALLELPERIOD([Date].Date, -1, QUARTER)
)

Boundary Functions

FIRSTDATE / LASTDATE

Period boundaries.

FIRSTDATE([Date].Date) -- First date in context
LASTDATE([Date].Date)  -- Last date in context

STARTOFMONTH / ENDOFMONTH

Month boundaries.

STARTOFMONTH(DATE(2024, 6, 15)) -- Returns: June 1, 2024
ENDOFMONTH(DATE(2024, 6, 15))   -- Returns: June 30, 2024

💡 Advanced Time Patterns

Rolling 12-Month Average

AVERAGEX(
    DATESINPERIOD([Date].Date, MAX([Date].Date), -12, MONTH),
    [MonthlyTotal]
)

Year-over-Year Growth %

DIVIDE(
    [CurrentYearSales] - [PriorYearSales],
    [PriorYearSales]
)

Fiscal Year Calculations

CALCULATE(
    SUM([Sales].Amount),
    DATESYTD([Date].Date, "6/30")
)

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