SECONDS_SUB

Description

The SECONDS_SUB function subtracts or adds a specified number of seconds to a specified datetime value and returns the calculated datetime value. This function supports processing DATE and DATETIME types. If a negative number is input, it is equivalent to adding the corresponding number of seconds.

This function behaves consistently with date_sub function and MySQL's date_sub function when using SECOND as the unit.

Syntax

SECONDS_SUB(<date_or_time_expr>, <seconds>)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<date_or_time_expr>	Required. The input datetime value. Can be of type DATE or DATETIME. For specific datetime/date formats, see datetime conversion and date conversion
<seconds>	Required. The number of seconds to subtract or add. Supports integer type (BIGINT). Positive numbers indicate subtracting seconds, negative numbers indicate adding seconds.

Return Value

Returns a datetime value after adding the corresponding seconds to the input datetime, of type DATETIME.

• If <seconds> is negative, the function behaves the same as adding the corresponding seconds to the base time (i.e., SECONDS_SUB(date, -n) is equivalent to SECONDS_ADD(date, n)).
• If the input is DATE type (only contains year, month, day), its time portion defaults to 00:00:00.
• If the calculation result exceeds the valid range of the date type (for DATE type: throws an exception).
• If any parameter is NULL, returns NULL.

Examples

--- Subtract seconds from DATETIME type
SELECT SECONDS_SUB('2025-01-23 12:34:56', 30) AS result;
+---------------------+
| result              |
+---------------------+
| 2025-01-23 12:34:26 |
+---------------------+

--- Add seconds to DATETIME type (using negative number)
SELECT SECONDS_SUB('2025-01-23 12:34:56', -30) AS result;
+---------------------+
| result              |
+---------------------+
| 2025-01-23 12:35:26 |
+---------------------+

--- Subtract seconds across minute boundary
SELECT SECONDS_SUB('2023-07-14 00:00:10', 15) AS result;
+---------------------+
| result              |
+---------------------+
| 2023-07-13 23:59:55 |
+---------------------+

--- Input is DATE type (default time 00:00:00)
SELECT SECONDS_SUB('2023-01-01', 3600) AS result;  -- Subtract 1 hour (3600 seconds)
+---------------------+
| result              |
+---------------------+
| 2022-12-31 23:00:00 |
+---------------------+

--- DATETIME with microseconds (preserves precision)
SELECT SECONDS_SUB('2023-07-13 10:30:25.123456', 2) AS result;
+----------------------------+
| result                     |
+----------------------------+
| 2023-07-13 10:30:23.123456 |
+----------------------------+

--- Returns NULL when input is NULL
SELECT SECONDS_SUB(NULL, 30), SECONDS_SUB('2025-01-23 12:34:56', NULL) AS result;
+-------------------------+--------+
| seconds_sub(NULL, 30)   | result |
+-------------------------+--------+
| NULL                    | NULL   |
+-------------------------+--------+

--- Calculation result exceeds date range
SELECT SECONDS_SUB('0000-01-01 00:00:00', 1) AS result;
ERROR 1105 (HY000): errCode = 2, detailMessage = (10.16.10.3)[E-218]Operation seconds_add of 0000-01-01 00:00:00, -1 out of range