Datetime comparison issues

Configuration
1

I am comparing two dates formatted as date and time. One is
{{(as_timestamp(now()) | timestamp_custom("%A, %d %h %H:%M")) }}
which renders Wednesday, 27 Mar 11:27

and
{{(as_timestamp(now())+ states.sensor.time_delta_front_shrubs.state | int) | timestamp_custom("%A, %d %h %H:%M") }}
which renders Friday, 29 Mar 11:27

if I compare them then apparently Wednesday is greater than Friday.

`{{(as_timestamp(now()) | timestamp_custom("%A, %d %h %H:%M"))  > (as_timestamp(now())+ states.sensor.time_delta_front_shrubs.state | int) |   timestamp_custom("%A, %d %h %H:%M") }}`

renders True.

In fact if I try and compare
{{(as_timestamp(now()) | timestamp_custom("%A, %d %h %H:%M")) > "Wednesday, 27 Mar 12:20"}}

I get False, but trying any other time that is a day or more in the future I get True.

What am I missing?

2

You are testing strings, not integers. As soon as you format the timestamps they becomes strings.

Try performing the test with unformatted timestamps.

3

I thought about that, but I came across a complication that I’m yet to resolve.

As I’m sometimes setting the next run time manually, via input_sliders, that is then a payload to MQTT, such as
{{(as_timestamp(now() ) ) | timestamp_custom("%A, %d %h ")}}{{states.sensor.front_shrubs_timer.state}} where {{states.sensor.front_shrubs_timer.state}} is clock time from input_value, I’d need to have some method of actually calculating what the datetime float is. Or calculating back from the Date string formatted as above its float.

4

Yeah input datetimes without dates are tricky to compare to timestamps (that include the date). You have to add today’s date to them. Here’s a value template for a binary sensor I use to check if the current time is within a window specified by two input datetimes that may point you in the right direction:

      value_template: >-
        {% set d = now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d ") %} # date now only
        {% set t = now().timestamp() %} # time now, with date timestamp
        {% set am_start = strptime(d + states('input_datetime.dining_am_on_time'), '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S').timestamp() %}
        {% set am_end = strptime(d + states('input_datetime.dining_am_off_time'), '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S').timestamp() %}
        {{ am_start <= t <= am_end }}
1 Like
5

This has been a long winded process requiring refactorring of the whole irrigation timer component. It was brought about by wanting to test future and past dates. Up until then I was only testing equality, which with strings worked fine.

@tom_l thanks for your help. It was actually your input_datetime.dining_am_on_time component that made me twig why I can’t cast value_inputs into time and date very easily (or not at all), epecially when they are concatenated.

Also these two resources helped The EPIC Time Conversion and Manipulation Thread! and https://www.home-assistant.io/components/input_datetime/

Whilst I am not very keen on the appearance of the value_datetime component (the time input is ugly and not input friendly), arithmetic operations are much simpler now.