Utility methods

Helper methods for working with PubNub timetokens.

Timetoken to date

Convert a PubNub timetoken (100-nanosecond intervals since January 1, 1970) to an Instant object for displaying message timestamps in human-readable format.

Method signature

1TimetokenUtil.timetokenToInstant(timetoken: Long): Instant

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
timetoken * Type: Long Default: n/a	Represents the PubNub timetoken to convert into a human-readable date format.

Output

Type	Description
Instant	The human-readable date representation of the timetoken.

Sample code

Convert a timetoken value of 17276954606232118 to a human-readable date and time format.

1val timetoken: Long = 17276954606232118
2val instant: Instant = TimetokenUtil.timetokenToInstant(timetoken)
3val localDateTimeInUTC = instant.toLocalDateTime(TimeZone.UTC)
4

5println("PubNub timetoken: ${timetoken}")
6println("Current date: ${localDateTimeInUTC.date}")
7println("Current time: ${localDateTimeInUTC.time}")

The output of the method is as follows:

PubNub timetoken: 17276954606232118
Current time: 11:24:20.623211800
Current date: 2024-09-30

Date to timetoken

Convert an Instant object to a PubNub timetoken for retrieving messages at a specific date and time.

Method signature

1TimetokenUtil.instantToTimetoken(instant: Instant): Long

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
instant * Type: Instant Default: n/a	Represents the date and time to convert into a PubNub timetoken.

Output

Type	Description
Long	Converted timetoken value.

Sample code

Convert a human-readable date and time, September 30, 2024 12:12:24 GMT, to a timetoken.

1val localDateTime = LocalDateTime(year = 2024, monthNumber = 9, dayOfMonth = 30, hour = 12, minute = 12, second =  44, nanosecond =  123456789)
2val zone = TimeZone.currentSystemDefault()
3val instant = localDateTime.toInstant(zone)
4val timetoken = TimetokenUtil.instantToTimetoken(instant)
5

6println("Current date: ${localDateTime.date}")
7println("Current time: ${localDateTime.time}")
8println("PubNub timetoken: ${timetoken}")

Current date: 2024-09-30
Current time: 12:12:44.123456789
PubNub timetoken: 17276911641234567

Unix timestamp to timetoken

Convert a Unix timestamp (seconds since January 1, 1970) to a PubNub timetoken for retrieving historical messages within a specific time range.

Method signature

This method takes the following parameters:

1TimetokenUtil.unixToTimetoken(unixTime: Long): Long 

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
unixTime * Type: Long Default: n/a	Represents the Unix timestamp to convert into a PubNub timetoken.

Output

Type	Description
Long	Converted timetoken value.

Sample code

Convert a Unix timestamp value of 1727866935316 representing 2024-10-02 11:02:15.316 to PubNub timetoken:

1val unixTime = 1727866935316
2val timetoken: Long = TimetokenUtil.unixToTimetoken(unixTime)
3val instant: Instant = TimetokenUtil.timetokenToInstant(timetoken)
4val localDateTime = instant.toLocalDateTime(TimeZone.UTC)
5

6println("Current date: ${localDateTime.date}")
7println("Current time: ${localDateTime.time}")
8println("PubNub timetoken: ${timetoken}")

The output of the method is as follows:

Current date: 2024-10-02
Current time: 11:02:15.316
PubNub timetoken: 17278669353160000

Timetoken to Unix timestamp

Convert a PubNub timetoken to a Unix timestamp for use with systems requiring Unix time format.

Method signature

1TimetokenUtil.timetokenToUnix(timetoken: Long): Long 

Input

* required

Parameter	Description
timetoken * Type: Long Default: n/a	Represents the PubNub timetoken to convert into a Unix timestamp.

Output

Type	Description
Long	Converted Unix timestamp value.

Sample code

Convert a PubNub timetoken 17276954606232118 representing 2024-09-30 11:24:20.623211800 to Unix time:

1val timetoken = 17276954606232118
2val unixTime = TimetokenUtil.timetokenToUnix(timetoken)
3val instant = Instant.fromEpochMilliseconds(unixTime)
4val localDateTime = instant.toLocalDateTime(TimeZone.UTC)
5

6println("Current date: ${localDateTime.date}")
7println("Current time: ${localDateTime.time}")
8println("PubNub timetoken: ${timetoken}")

The output of the method is as follows:

Current date: 2024-09-30
Current time: 11:24:20.623
PubNub timetoken: 17276954606232118