GOMONTH( ) function

Returns the date that is the specified number of months before or after a specified date.

Syntax

GOMONTH(date/datetime, months)

Parameters

Name Type Description
date/datetime

datetime

The field, expression, or literal value from which to calculate the output date.
months

numeric

The number of months before or after date/datetime.

Note

You can specify a datetime value for date/datetime but the time portion of the value is ignored.

Output

Datetime. The date value is output using the current Analytics date display format.

Examples

Basic examples

Literal input values

Returns `20140415` displayed as 15 Apr 2014 assuming a current Analytics date display format of DD MMM YYYY:

GOMONTH(`20140115`, 3)

Returns `20131015` displayed as 15 Oct 2013 assuming a current Analytics date display format of DD MMM YYYY:

GOMONTH(`20140115`, -3)

Returns `20140430` displayed as 30 Apr 2014 assuming a current Analytics date display format of DD MMM YYYY (date rounding prevents returning 31 Apr 2014, which is an invalid date):

GOMONTH(`20140330`, 1)
GOMONTH(`20140331`, 1)

Returns `20140501` displayed as 01 May 2014 assuming a current Analytics date display format of DD MMM YYYY:

GOMONTH(`20140401`, 1)

Field input values

Returns the date three months after each date in the Invoice_date field:

GOMONTH(Invoice_date, 3)

Returns the date three months after each date in the Invoice_date field plus a grace period of 15 days:

GOMONTH(Invoice_date + 15, 3)

Remarks

Datetime formats

A field specified for date/datetime can use any date or datetime format, as long as the field definition correctly defines the format.

A literal date value must use one of the following formats:

  • YYYYMMDD
  • YYMMDD

You must enclose literal date values in backquotes. For example: `20141231`

How the months value works

  • Positive value the output date is more recent than the specified date/datetime
  • Negative value the output date is prior to the specified date/datetime
  • Value omitted, or '0' (zero) the output date is the same as the date/datetime

Date rounding to avoid non-existent dates

If the combination of date/datetime and months would produce a non-existent date, the GOMONTH( ) function uses 'date rounding' to return the closest valid date within the same month.

Returns `20140430` (30 Apr 2014) because 31 Apr 2014 is an invalid date:

GOMONTH(`20140331`,1)

Related functions

Use the EOMONTH( ) function if you want to return the date of the last day of the month, rather than the exact date, that is the specified number of months before or after a specified date.

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ACL Scripting Guide 14.1