Match datetime within 2 seconds from two columns of different sizes

Hi all,

I am trying to match datetimes to an accuracy of within 2 seconds of two columns of different sizes. I want to compare all the elements of one datetime column (this column has 3465 elements) with all the elements of the other datetime column (2450 elements) and create one variable with the elements of the first column which differ less than 2 minutes from any element of the 2nd column, and other variable with the elements of the 2nd column whitch differ less than 2 minutes from any element of 1st column.

The 2 columns have the format 'MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss,

In the end my goal is to make a graphic with the datetime and other variable and to represent the dates that are very similar (less than 2 minutes), so I can compare how the other variable is behaving in the same dates.

[SALAH ALRABEEI]

I think you already have asked before, and someone just answered. https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/837433-substract-all-elements-from-one-vector-minus-all-elements-from-other-vector?s_tid=answers_rc1-1_p1_MLT

Answer 1

[Aghamarsh Varanasi]

Hi,

To handle datetime data, you can use the datetime data type to save the data as a MATLAB variable. This helps you to compare two dates as follows:

d1 = '06/17/2021 10:30:05';
d2 = '06/17/2021 10:35:15';
date1 = datetime(d1, 'InputFormat', 'MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss');
date2 = datetime(d2, 'InputFormat', 'MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss');
var = [];


% check if the duration difference is less than 2 minutes
if date1.Minute < date2.Minute + 2 && date1.Minute > date2.Minute - 2
    var = [var, [date1, date2]];
end

You can convert the columns into datetime arrays and run a for loop to compare each data point. For more information on Date and Time data types refer to this documentation page.