How to Convert Unix Epoch Time in Nanoseconds to Readable Format in SQLite

Discover how to convert Unix epoch time with nanoseconds into a human-readable format in SQLite, ensuring precise timestamps for your data visualizations.
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Understanding Unix Epoch Time in Nanoseconds

If you’ve ever dealt with timestamps in databases, you might be familiar with the concept of Unix epoch time—the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, UTC. However, what happens when your timestamp is in nanoseconds? For example, a value like 1634713905326784000 stands for an instant in time, but converting it into a human-readable format can be challenging, particularly in SQLite.

This article will help you solve that issue by outlining the steps needed to transform your Unix epoch time in nanoseconds into a complete timestamp, including milliseconds. This is vital, especially if you plan to plot data accurately without clustering timestamps at the beginning of each second.

The Problem

You wish to convert a Unix epoch time presented in nanoseconds into a readable format. Here’s the challenge you've faced:

You've correctly started using the STRFTIME function to format your timestamp, but due to integer math, you ended up losing the fractional part of the timestamp. Consequently, the output consistently appears as 2021-10-20 07:11:45.000—an issue for visual analytics requiring precise timings.

Output Examples

Here’s what your initial output looks like:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

As you can see, this lack of detail means all timestamps are lumped together, providing a confusing representation of your data when plotted.

The Solution

You were on the right track with STRFTIME, but the key to achieving your goal lies in properly handling the type conversion of the timestamp. Here’s how to do it effectively.

Step-by-Step Conversion

Convert Timestamp to Float: Use the CAST function to convert the timestamp to a float. This allows for fractional arithmetic.

Divide by 1e9: Divide the float result by 1e9 (or 10^9) to convert nanoseconds into seconds.

Use STRFTIME: Apply the STRFTIME function to format the result as a timestamp string.

Example SQL Query

Here’s the SQL query you can use in DB Browser for SQLite:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Expected Output

Applying the above query will yield results that look like this, successfully including the fractions in your timestamps:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Key Takeaways

Data Type Matters: Always ensure you're using appropriate data types during calculations; using float will allow for accurate handling of decimal points.

Precision in Visualization: Accurate timestamps with detailed fractions help in visualizing data without misleading results.

Conclusion

By following the method outlined above, you can easily convert Unix epoch time with nanoseconds to a human-readable format in SQLite. This approach not only makes your data more readable but also enhances your ability to conduct precise data analyses and visualizations.

Embrace these SQL techniques and see how they can improve your handling of time-based data!