# Specific Time format?

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [18 December 2018 19:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945 "2018-12-18T19:24:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 19:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/1 "2018-12-18T19:24:10Z")

</div>

So I'm trying to follow the instructions on the [MET Office API](http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/support/dataformats#automatic) to upload my weatherdata to their global site and I've joined all my different mqtt flows etc. but having problem with the time format.

In their manual they state:

> The date must be in the following format: YYYY-mm-DD HH:mm:ss, where ':' is encoded as %3A, and the space is encoded as either '+' or %20. An example, valid date would be: 2011-02-29+10%3A32%3A55, for the 2nd of Feb, 2011 at 10:32:55. Note that the time is in 24 hour format. Also note that the date must be adjusted to UTC time - equivalent to the GMT time zone.. This is especially important for users outside the UK, and British users must also take note of the difference between British Summer Time and UTC

I added the `node-red-contrib-moment`and set the output to their `YYYY-MM-DD+HH%3Amm%3Ass` but in the output it get's formatted as `2018-12-18%2019%3PM12%3PM47`, ie `%3A`get converted to `%3PM` and the site throws me a bad request!

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**Author:** ![ukmoose](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/ukmoose/32/13_2.png) [@ukmoose](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ukmoose)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 19:58 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/2 "2018-12-18T19:58:11Z")

</div>

Probably easier to do it in a function node where you can use a javascript date object  
[https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref\_obj\_date.asp](https://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_obj_date.asp)

and then build exactly what you want from that.

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**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 20:19 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/3 "2018-12-18T20:19:24Z")

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Or, if you use [node-red-contrib-simpletime](https://flows.nodered.org/node/node-red-contrib-simpletime) you can format it however you want by using a template node.

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**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 20:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/4 "2018-12-18T20:30:49Z")

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I'm afraid that since I don't know any java I can't go with your suggestion @ukmoose even if it might be the better way...

Tried that just now @Paul-Reed but it looks like it can only print the month with letters and not numbers?

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**Author:** ![ukmoose](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/ukmoose/32/13_2.png) [@ukmoose](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ukmoose)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 20:34 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/5 "2018-12-18T20:34:27Z")

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its javascript.

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**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 20:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/6 "2018-12-18T20:38:31Z")

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> [@Naesstrom](#):
>
> Tried that just now @Paul-Reed but it looks like it can only print the month with letters and not numbers?

I could look towards adding month 'numbers' as well, if you think it would be of benefit.

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**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 20:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/7 "2018-12-18T20:40:20Z")

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doesn't help, don't understand javascript either! 😃

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 20:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/8 "2018-12-18T20:59:12Z")

</div>

I actually got it working by using a change node to replace the `:`with `%3A` still getting a "bad request" tough through node-red but the url works in a browser

if I have a function that looks like this:

```auto
msg.siteid = "24855254-ce02-e911-9462-0003ff598847";
msg.auth = "36EHNrR5Vwrp4HSW";
msg.url = "http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/automaticreading?";
msg.payload = "siteid=24855254-ce02-e911-9462-0003ff598847&siteAuthenticationKey=36EHNrR5Vwrp4HSW&dateutc=" + msg.payload.dateutc + "&humidity=" + msg.payload["/Climate/BME280/Humidity"] + "&baromin=" + msg.payload["/Climate/BME280/Pressure"] + "&tempf=" + msg.payload["/Climate/BME280/Temperature"];
return msg;

```

and after that a HTTP POST with the url (`http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/automaticreading?`) shouldn't that be working?

if I just paste the payload after the url in a browserwindow it works just fine `siteid=24855254-ce02-e911-9462-0003ff598847&siteAuthenticationKey=36EHNrR5Vwrp4HSW&dateutc=2018-12-18+20%3A58%3A09&humidity=100.00&baromin=1025.19&tempf=-0.33`

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 21:09 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/9 "2018-12-18T21:09:57Z")

</div>

> [@Naesstrom](#):
>
> I added the `node-red-contrib-moment` and set the output to their `YYYY-MM-DD+HH%3Amm%3Ass` but in the output it get's formatted as `2018-12-18%2019%3PM12%3PM47` , ie `%3A` get converted to `%3PM` and the site throws me a bad request!

That is because moment is interpreting the A character to give AM/PM.

The correct approach is to get moment (or something else) to give you the formatted text string as normal with the ":"s embedded then replace the ':' strings.

~~This flow should do the trick.~~

Update: I've also added an alternative - instead of a function node, you can use a change  
node with JSONata which is actually easier in this case.

```auto
[{"id":"1cc3c847.b678f8","type":"inject","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":140,"y":340,"wires":[["48c0750.0ea8f8c"]]},{"id":"cded485f.9ad718","type":"debug","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"false","x":690,"y":340,"wires":[]},{"id":"94bc128b.91385","type":"function","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","func":"/ **Uses a Regular Expression search with\n * the global flag to return all occurances\n * which are then replaced with the URL encoded\n * equivalent.\n** /\n\nmsg.payload = msg.payload.replace(/\\:/g,'%3A')\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":490,"y":340,"wires":[["cded485f.9ad718"]]},{"id":"48c0750.0ea8f8c","type":"moment","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","topic":"","input":"payload","inputType":"msg","inTz":"Europe/London","adjAmount":0,"adjType":"days","adjDir":"add","format":"YYYY-mm-DD HH:mm:ss","locale":"en_GB","output":"","outputType":"msg","outTz":"Europe/London","x":320,"y":340,"wires":[["94bc128b.91385","9e32d543.f8fce8"]]},{"id":"9e32d543.f8fce8","type":"change","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"$replace(payload, \":\", \"%3A\")\t","tot":"jsonata"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":520,"y":380,"wires":[["cded485f.9ad718"]]}]

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 21:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/10 "2018-12-18T21:15:28Z")

</div>

> [@TotallyInformation](#):
>
> ```auto
> [{"id":"1cc3c847.b678f8","type":"inject","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"x":140,"y":340,"wires":[["48c0750.0ea8f8c"]]},{"id":"cded485f.9ad718","type":"debug","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"false","x":690,"y":340,"wires":[]},{"id":"94bc128b.91385","type":"function","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","func":"/ **Uses a Regular Expression search with\n * the global flag to return all occurances\n * which are then replaced with the URL encoded\n * equivalent.\n** /\n\nmsg.payload = msg.payload.replace(/\\:/g,'%3A')\n\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"x":490,"y":340,"wires":[["cded485f.9ad718"]]},{"id":"48c0750.0ea8f8c","type":"moment","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","topic":"","input":"payload","inputType":"msg","inTz":"Europe/London","adjAmount":0,"adjType":"days","adjDir":"add","format":"YYYY-mm-DD HH:mm:ss","locale":"en_GB","output":"","outputType":"msg","outTz":"Europe/London","x":320,"y":340,"wires":[["94bc128b.91385","9e32d543.f8fce8"]]},{"id":"9e32d543.f8fce8","type":"change","z":"586832c7.9dc7fc","name":"","rules":[{"t":"set","p":"payload","pt":"msg","to":"$replace(payload, \":\", \"%3A\")\t","tot":"jsonata"}],"action":"","property":"","from":"","to":"","reg":false,"x":520,"y":380,"wires":[["cded485f.9ad718"]]}]
> 
> ```

WOW! `$replace(payload, ":", "%3A")` looks awsome, that's going to come in handy in the future! kudos @TotallyInformation

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 21:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/11 "2018-12-18T21:22:37Z")

</div>

Just for info, I've just updated npm `node-red-contrib-simpletime` to also include a 2 digit month number.

~~v2.4.0 should appear in the node-RED library very shortly~~ Now in node-RED library.

Paul

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Paul-Reed](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/paul-reed/32/66906_2.png) [@Paul-Reed](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Paul-Reed)\
**Post date:** [18 December 2018 21:41 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/12 "2018-12-18T21:41:49Z")

</div>

@Naesstrom Is that your correct api siteid & authenticationKey in the above post?

If so, it may be wise to edit your post, so nobody else can use it....

Paul

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 14:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/13 "2018-12-19T14:12:36Z")

</div>

Thanks @Paul-Reed for the concern, the site-id is public and available on their site and I've changed the key!

A follow up question that's not related to the date/time tough since I got it working now... I'm still getting a `Bad Request` reply when trying to use the `HTTP request`?  
The function produces a payload that works since I can paste it in the adress bar of a browsertab and all I should need in the http node is the adress?  
 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/2X/e/ec9cad4ea813cc5081e6d543afe284d33c51adc4.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ukmoose](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/ukmoose/32/13_2.png) [@ukmoose](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ukmoose)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 14:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/14 "2018-12-19T14:48:11Z")

</div>

If you read the Info panel for the http request node you'll find the following:

```auto
url string
If not configured in the node, this optional property sets the url of the request.

```

so set the full url you want to `msg.url` and feed that to the http request node

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 14:50 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/15 "2018-12-19T14:50:25Z")

</div>

tried that to, used `msg.url = "http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/automaticreading?";` in the function and left the http node empty but I'm still getting bad request!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ukmoose](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/ukmoose/32/13_2.png) [@ukmoose](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ukmoose)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 15:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/16 "2018-12-19T15:05:25Z")

</div>

But you still need to add the data to that.

so after you have defined it you need

msg.url=msg.url+msg.payload;

(assuming your data line is msg.payload)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 15:50 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/17 "2018-12-19T15:50:51Z")

</div>

Ahh ok, so it looks like this now:

```auto
msg.siteid = "123456789";
msg.auth = "987654321";
msg.url = "http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/automaticreading?";
msg.payload = "siteid=" + msg.siteid + "&siteAuthenticationKey=" + msg.auth + "&dateutc=" + msg.payload.dateutc + "&humidity=" + msg.payload.humidity + "&baromin=" + msg.payload.pressure + "&tempf=" + msg.payload.temp + "&dewptf=" + msg.payload.dewpoint +"&softwaretype=weathersoftware1.0";
return msg;

```

Shuld I add `msg.url=msg.url+msg.payload` just before `return msg;`then?

Complete noob but so far this thread has been a great learning experience! 😃

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ukmoose](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/ukmoose/32/13_2.png) [@ukmoose](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/ukmoose)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 16:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/18 "2018-12-19T16:22:26Z")

</div>

Yep. You said that it works if you paste it all into the browser window.  
So what you are now doing is the equivalent. Putting it all on one long Website address ( as you did in the browser window) and sending that on to the next node.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Naesstrom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@Naesstrom](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Naesstrom)\
**Post date:** [19 December 2018 19:17 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/specific-time-format/5945/19 "2018-12-19T19:17:18Z")

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Awsome, thanks for the help! Reporting weather data now!

> **[Met Office WOW -](https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/observations/details?site_id=24855254-ce02-e911-9462-0003ff598847)**
>
> The UK Met Office Weather Observation Website (WOW). WOW allows anyone to submit their own weather data, anywhere in the world.