nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

create a unique ID using date and time using Arcade

dsinha

Hello,

I am trying to create a unique id based on date and time at the moment of collection. The value has to be integer and in the format of YY-MM-HHmmss (2026-05-110356). I have seen how to do it using the Text function in arcade, but I can't seem to locate the expression that I need to generate the output in integer form.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Find more posts tagged with

Accepted answers

kenbuja

To get your format of "2026-05-110356" (did you want to leave out the day?), you would use the syntax

Text(Now(), "Y-MM-HHmmss")

//if you want to include the day, use this syntax
Text(Now(), "Y-MM-DD-HHmmss")

However, this cannot be converted into an integer with the dashes included. You can use this syntax to return an integer

Number(Text(Now(), "YMMHHmmss"))

All comments

dsinha

Thanks @KenBuja and @TravisSaladino for your suggestions. Due to impending deadline on Friday, I decided to convert the field type to text and use Text(Now(), "Y-MM-DD-HHmmss") function.

kenbuja

The number you're calculating is probably too big for a regular integer field.

A small integer field (16-bit) only allows for values from -32,768 to 32,767. An integer field (32-bit) allows for values from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. Both of these are shorter than what you want.

A big integer field (64-bit) allows for values from -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807

TravisSaladino

Just a thought here... And @KenBuja has touched on this in the past too (see: https://community.esri.com/t5/developers-questions/how-to-convert-datetime-to-epoch-time-in-arcade/m-p/1230740#M6404) ... but would using the Unix epoch time help with any of this? It's not as user friendly as YYYYMMDDmmss but it's already an integer. Just a thought.

dsinha

@KenBuja I just ran into another related issue and I was wondering if you would know how it can be resolved.

The expression Number(Text(Now(), "YMMHHmmss")) works fine in the console and I saved the form to the map and layer in FieldMaps Designer. But when I open the form in FieldMaps on the mobile device, the id number is not calculating and I am getting the error message "Value is invalid".

Any suggestions? Thanks!

dsinha

Thanks @KenBuja! I just realized also that the dashes are the problem. Strange that I can store the same value with the dashes in Survey123 as an integer but not in FieldMaps.

kenbuja

To get your format of "2026-05-110356" (did you want to leave out the day?), you would use the syntax

Text(Now(), "Y-MM-HHmmss")

//if you want to include the day, use this syntax
Text(Now(), "Y-MM-DD-HHmmss")

However, this cannot be converted into an integer with the dashes included. You can use this syntax to return an integer

Number(Text(Now(), "YMMHHmmss"))

Join the Conversation

Signed in members can post, follow updates, and more. New here? Register a free account.

Quick Links

Community Help
Find useful guides, FAQs, and documents to help you navigate and make the most of Esri Community.