How can I better track my kid's feeding schedule and progress?
August 3, 2008 9:10 PM Subscribe
NeoOffice (or OpenOffice) Filter:
Can anybody point me to the NeoOffice/OpenOffice formulas for comparing time (in minutes or seconds) between two dates?
Sorry for asking this, AskMeFites. Normally, I'd tackle this one myself, but, as my son is a whopping 12 days old right now, I'm not getting a heck of a lot of sleep these days. I'm trying to generate a graph of the time between his feedings, and the length of each of his feedings.
I've been meticulously tracking all of it so far, but I could use a little help with the NeoOffice/OpenOffice functions. So:
How do I calculate absolute time (in seconds or minutes) between two dates/timestamps in NeoOffice?
Sorry for asking this, AskMeFites. Normally, I'd tackle this one myself, but, as my son is a whopping 12 days old right now, I'm not getting a heck of a lot of sleep these days. I'm trying to generate a graph of the time between his feedings, and the length of each of his feedings.
I've been meticulously tracking all of it so far, but I could use a little help with the NeoOffice/OpenOffice functions. So:
How do I calculate absolute time (in seconds or minutes) between two dates/timestamps in NeoOffice?
Not sure if there's ever a case where you'd want to measure more than 23 hours, but if you do you'll have to use the format [HH]:MM instead of HH:MM since I think the latter "resets" after 23 hours...
posted by Deathalicious at 11:02 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Deathalicious at 11:02 PM on August 3, 2008
very useful tip, Deathalicious! i hadn't come across that before. thanks!
posted by ffej at 12:16 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by ffej at 12:16 AM on August 4, 2008
Response by poster: ffej! That was what I needed, perfect! Now, for sleep!
posted by The Giant Squid at 7:50 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by The Giant Squid at 7:50 AM on August 4, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
I think that the date arithmetic is simpler than you'd expect.
Here's a quick example that should get you on the right track.
This was all tested in OpenOffice.org Calc 2.4.1. I don't have easy access to NeoOffice from here.
Assume column A is "feeding start", column B is "feeding end", column C will be "feeding duration", and column D will be "time since last feeding".
Column A and B need to be set up as Date format, with a Format code such as "MM/DD/YY HH:MM AM/PM".
This formatting is often done automatically when entering data in that format, otherwise you can right-click the fields and select "Format Cells", then select the "Numbers" tab and select "Date" under "Category". From there, pick the right entry under the "Format" header, or enter your own format in the "Format code" field.
Column C and D should be formatted something like "HH:MM". If you're tracking it down to the second, consider that you may be obsessing. ;)
Row 1 would usually be our header row, but for this example we'll start our first feeding in row 1.
Column C for the first feeding is calculated as =B1-A1 (feeding end minus feeding start).
Column D for the second feeding is calculated as =A2-B1 (second feeding start minus first feeding end).
OpenOffice should even properly handle feeding times that span midnight.
Graphing the data is then up to you. :)
Good luck, and enjoy! (the baby, not the sleep-dep)
posted by ffej at 10:54 PM on August 3, 2008