MICROSECONDS_SUB

Description

The MICROSECONDS_SUB function subtracts a specified number of microseconds from the input datetime value and returns the resulting new datetime value. This function supports DATETIME, TIMESTAMP_NS, and TIMESTAMPTZ.

This function behaves the same as MySQL’s date_sub function when using MICROSECOND as the unit.

Syntax

MICROSECONDS_SUB(`<datetime_like_type>`, `<delta>`)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<datetime_like_type>	The input datetime value, of type DATETIME, TIMESTAMP_NS, or TIMESTAMPTZ. For formats, see datetime conversion, timestamp_ns conversion, and timestamptz conversion.
<delta>	The number of microseconds to subtract, of type BIGINT. 1 second = 1,000,000 microseconds.

Return Value

Return the result of subtracting the specified microseconds <delta> from the base time <datetime_like_type>, with the return type being the same as the type of the first parameter.

• A TIMESTAMP_NS input returns TIMESTAMP_NS and preserves its nanosecond part.

• If <delta> is negative, the function behaves the same as adding the corresponding number of microseconds to the base time (i.e., MICROSECONDS_SUB(basetime, -n) is equivalent to MICROSECONDS_ADD(basetime, n)).

• If the calculation result exceeds the valid range of the DATETIME type (0000-01-01 00:00:00 to 9999-12-31 23:59:59.999999), an exception is thrown.

• For TIMESTAMP_NS, the result must be in the range 1677-09-21 00:12:43.145224192 to 2262-04-11 23:47:16.854775807.

• If any parameter is NULL, the function returns NULL.

Examples

-- Subtract microseconds
SELECT NOW(3) AS current_time, MICROSECONDS_SUB(NOW(3), 100000) AS after_sub;

+-------------------------+----------------------------+
| current_time            | after_sub                  |
+-------------------------+----------------------------+
| 2025-01-16 11:52:22.296 | 2025-01-16 11:52:22.196000 |
+-------------------------+----------------------------+

-- Negative delta (equivalent to addition)
mysql> SELECT MICROSECONDS_SUB('2023-10-01 12:00:00.200000', -300000) AS after_sub;
+----------------------------+
| after_sub                  |
+----------------------------+
| 2023-10-01 12:00:00.500000 |
+----------------------------+

-- TIMESTAMP_NS preserves the nanosecond part
SELECT MICROSECONDS_SUB(CAST('2025-01-02 03:04:05.123456789' AS TIMESTAMP_NS), 1);
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MICROSECONDS_SUB(CAST('2025-01-02 03:04:05.123456789' AS TIMESTAMP_NS), 1) |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2025-01-02 03:04:05.123455789                                                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

-- Any parameter is NULL, returns NULL
SELECT MICROSECONDS_SUB(NULL, 1000), MICROSECONDS_SUB('2023-01-01', NULL) AS after_sub;
+------------------------------+----------------------------+
| microseconds_sub(NULL, 1000) | after_sub                  |
+------------------------------+----------------------------+
| NULL                         | NULL                       |
+------------------------------+----------------------------+

-- Input type is DATE, time part is automatically set to 00:00:00.000000
SELECT MICROSECONDS_SUB('2023-10-01', -300000);
+-----------------------------------------+
| MICROSECONDS_SUB('2023-10-01', -300000) |
+-----------------------------------------+
| 2023-10-01 00:00:00.300000              |
+-----------------------------------------+

-- Example of TimeStampTz type, SET time_zone = '+08:00'
SELECT MICROSECONDS_SUB('2024-12-25 12:34:56.123+04:00', '765800');
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| MICROSECONDS_SUB('2024-12-25 12:34:56.123+04:00', '765800') |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2024-12-25 16:34:55.357200+08:00                            |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

-- Exceeds datetime range, throws an error
mysql> SELECT MICROSECONDS_SUB('0000-01-01 00:00:00.000000', 1000000) AS after_sub;
ERROR 1105 (HY000): errCode = 2, detailMessage = (10.16.10.3)[E-218]Operation microseconds_add of 0000-01-01 00:00:00, -1000000 
out of range