pdd

pdd (Python3 Date Diff) is a small cmdline utility to calculate date and time difference. It can also be used as a timer. If no program arguments are specified it shows the current date, time and timezone.

There are utilities and shell scripts which do what pdd does. However, pdd has been written with only one goal - simplicity. Users shouldn't have memorize anything.

Love smart and efficient utilities? Explore my repositories. Buy me a cup of coffee if they help you.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Installation
  • Dependencies
  • From a package manager
  • Release packages
  • From source
  • Running standalone
• Usage
  • cmdline options
  • Operational notes
• Examples
• Copyright

Features

• easy to use, minimal dependencies
• calculate date and time difference
• calculate diff from today and now
• add, subtract duration (timeslice) to/from date (time)
• countdown timer with command piggybacking
• custom resolution stopwatch
• non-verbose mode for background timers
• show current date, time and timezone

Installation

Dependencies

pdd requires Python 3.5 (or later) and the dateutil module.

To install dateutil on Ubuntu, run:

$ sudo apt-get install python3-dateutil

or, using pip3:

$ sudo pip3 install python-dateutil

From a package manager

• AUR (yay -S pdd)
• Debian (apt-get install pdd)
• Fedora (dnf install pdd)
• NixOS (nix-env -i pdd)
• PyPI (pip3 install pdd)
• Raspbian Testing (apt-get install pdd)
• Termux (pip3 install pdd)
• Ubuntu (apt-get install pdd)
• Ubuntu PPA (apt-get install pdd)
• Void Linux (xbps-install -S pdd)

Release packages

Packages for Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu are available with the latest stable release.

From source

If you have git installed, clone this repository. Otherwise download the latest latest stable release or development version (risky).

Install to default location (/usr/local):

$ sudo make install

To remove, run:

$ sudo make uninstall

PREFIX is supported, in case you want to install to a different location.

Running standalone

pdd is a standalone utility. From the containing directory, run:

$ chmod +x pdd
$ ./pdd

Usage

cmdline options

usage: pdd [-h] [-d yyyy mmm dd [yyyy mmm dd | y m d]]
           [-t hh:mm:ss [hh:mm:ss | h:m:s]] [--add] [--sub]
           [--day yyyy mmm dd] [-c hh:mm:ss] [-r command] [-s [resolution]]
           [-q]
           [keywords [keywords ...]]

Tiny date, time difference calculator with timers.

positional arguments:
  keywords              diff/add/subtract from today or now

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d yyyy mmm dd [yyyy mmm dd | y m d]
                        calculate date difference
  -t hh:mm:ss [hh:mm:ss | h:m:s]
                        calculate time difference
  --add                 add to date (/today) or time (/now)
  --sub                 subtract from date (/today) or time (/now)
  --day yyyy mmm dd     show day of the week on a date
  -c hh:mm:ss           start a countdown timer
  -r command            run command when countdown timer reaches 0
  -s [resolution]       start a stopwatch [default resolution: 3 (ms)]
  -q                    quiet mode for background timer/stopwatch

Operational notes

• ISO 8601 format. Month can be specified as month number (e.g. Jan - 1, Dec - 12).
• Time is in 24-hr format.
• The absolute difference is shown. Argument order is ignored.
• The end date is excluded in date difference calculations.
• Hour, minute or second can be omitted. Partial inputs are recognized as mm:ss or ss.
• The keybind to stop timers is Ctrl-C.

Examples

1. Calculate diff from today:

   $ pdd 2014 Jan 15
   

2. Calculate diff from now:

   $ pdd 24:00:00
   $ pdd 0
   

3. Calculate date diff:

   $ pdd -d 1983 jul 3 2014 1 15
   

4. Calculate time diff:

   $ pdd -t 45:50 6:17:33
   

5. Show current date, time and timezone:

   $ pdd
   

6. Specify time with roll-over:

   $ pdd -t 5:80:75 6:17:33
   

7. Add a duration (3 years, 2 months, 1 day) to 28 Feb, 2000:

   $ pdd -d 2000 FEB 28 3 2 1 --add
   

8. Add a timeslice (1 hour 2 mins 3 secs) to 23:45:37:

   $ pdd -t 23:45:37 1:2:3 --add
   

9. Add a duration (3 years, 2 months, 1 day) to today:

   $ pdd 3 2 1 --add
   

10. Add a timeslice (1 hour 2 minutes 3 seconds) to now:

    $ pdd 1:2:3 --add
    

11. Subtract a duration (1 day) from 1 Mar, 2000:

    $ pdd -d 2000 Mar 01 0 0 1 --sub
    

12. Subtract a timeslice (1 sec) from midnight:

    $ pdd -t 00:00:00 0:0:1 --sub
    

13. Subtract a duration (3 years, 2 months, 1 day) from today:

    $ pdd 3 2 1 --sub
    

14. Subtract a timeslice (1 hour 2 minutes 3 seconds) from now:

    $ pdd 1:2:3 --sub
    

15. Show the day of the week on 15 Jan 2014:

    $ pdd --day 2014 Jan 15
    

16. Start a countdown timer or stopwatch in quiet mode in the background:

    $ pdd -qs &
    $ pdd -qc 3:0:0 &
    

    To see the final counter run fg and press Ctrl-C.

17. Run a command when countdown timer reaches 0

    $ pdd -c 00:00:5 -r 'ps -aux'
    $ pdd -c 00:00:5 -r 'notify-send pdd "timer expired"'
    

Copyright

Copyright © 2017 Arun Prakash Jana