Constructing Interval Names

Date Intervals, Formats, and Functions

Constructing Interval Names

Multipliers and shift indexes can be used with the basic interval names to construct more complex interval specifications. The general form of an interval name is as follows:

: NAMEn.s

The three parts of the interval name are:

NAME: the name of the basic interval type. For example, YEAR specifies yearly intervals.
n: an optional multiplier which specifies that the interval is a multiple of the period of the basic interval type. For example, the interval YEAR2 consists of two-year, or biennial, periods.
s: an optional starting subperiod index that specifies that the intervals are shifted to later starting points. For example, YEAR.3 specifies yearly periods shifted to start on the first of March of each calendar year and to end in February of the following year.

Both the multiplier n and the shift index s are optional and default to 1. For example, YEAR, YEAR1, YEAR.1, and YEAR1.1 are all equivalent ways of specifying ordinary calendar years.

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