start

The start() function returns the start date from a date range. It accepts a single date argument.

start(date)

start() is useful for obtaining the start date from a Date property which contains a date range.

When you pass a single date as the argument – i.e. from a Created Time/Last Edited Time property, or a timestamp – start() simply returns that date.

Example Formula

// Assume a property "Date" exists, with 
// a row value of June 23, 2022 → June 27, 2022
start(prop("Date")) // Outpuut: June 23, 2022

Date Math within start() and end()

It’s useful to note that date math functions like dateAdd and dateSubtract return a date object that does not contain a date range – even if their argument does include one.

When these functions are passed a date object that includes a range, they only use a start date.

For this reason, the following two formulas will return the exact same date:

// Assume a property "Date" exists, with 
// a row value of June 23, 2022 → June 27, 2022
start(dateAdd(prop("Date"),30,"days")) // Output: July 23, 2022

end(dateAdd(prop("Date"),30,"days")) // Output: July 23, 2022

Therefore, you must use the end function within your date math function if you wish to operate on the end date in a date range:

// Assume a property "Date" exists, with 
// a row value of June 23, 2022 → June 27, 2022
dateAdd(end(prop("Date")), 30, "days") // Output: July 27, 2022

Example Database

The example database below counts the number of days in a date range.

View and Duplicate Database

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“Days” Property Formula

// Compressed
dateBetween(end(prop("Date Range")), start(prop("Date Range")), "days")

// Expanded
dateBetween(
    end(
        prop("Date Range")
    ), 
    start(
        prop("Date Range")
    ), 
    "days"
)

This example formula uses start() and end to pass beginning and ending arguments to the dateBetween function.

By specifying “days” as the third argument, we get the number of days in the date range.

Other formula components used in this example:

end – Thomas Frank

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dateBetween – Thomas Frank

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