how to convert time stamp 07 Mar 2016 01:00:03 PM to numeric in r

Question

Im trying to find time difference between two timestamps, say, start and endtime. But the stamps are in string format :07 Mar 2016 01:00:03 PM. Can someone help how to convert this in numeric and find the time difference? Thanks

Answer 1

lubridate is your new best friend so download it right away to get to know her.

install.packages('lubridate')
library(lubridate)

Based on your example, use dmy_hms()

a <- dmy_hms('07 Mar 2016 01:00:03 PM')
# "2016-03-07 13:00:03 UTC"
b <- dmy_hms('08 Mar 2016 01:00:03 PM')
# "2016-03-08 13:00:03 UTC"

Then a simple subtraction could get the date diff.

b - a
# Time difference of 1 days

Or you can also use the as.numeric() use this number for calculation later.

as.numeric(b - a)
# 1