# Expression tag to convert minutes to hh:mm:ss **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [October 7, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154 "2014-10-07T20:50:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tbackus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/tbackus/32/5091_2.png) [@tbackus](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/tbackus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/1 "2014-10-07T20:50:34Z")
Could someone help me with using and expression tag to convert something like: 91.50 minutes into 01:31:30 Is it even possible?? ---
**Author:** ![KathyApplebaum](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kathyapplebaum/32/7261_2.png) [@KathyApplebaum](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/KathyApplebaum)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/2 "2014-10-07T21:10:35Z")
Not pretty, but it seems to work: numberFormat(floor({_GenericSim_/Writeable/WriteableFloat1} / 60),"#0")+":"+numberFormat(60\*(({_GenericSim_/Writeable/WriteableFloat1} / 60)-floor({_GenericSim_/Writeable/WriteableFloat1} / 60)),“00”)+":" + numberFormat(60\*({_GenericSim_/Writeable/WriteableFloat1} - floor({_GenericSim_/Writeable/WriteableFloat1})),“00”) Let me know if you want the parts broken down and explained. ---
**Author:** ![JordanCClark](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/jordancclark/32/83362_2.png) [@JordanCClark](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/JordanCClark)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:59am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/3 "2014-10-08T10:59:34Z")
I have a script for it: `def convert(type, input): import datetime if type=='min': return str(datetime.timedelta(minutes=input)) if type=='sec': return str(datetime.timedelta(seconds=input))` You can either import the attached file into app, or shared scripts if you have 7.7. Your expression tag becomes [code]runscript(app.hms.convert(‘min’, value\_to\_convert)) -OR- runscript(shared.hms.convert(‘min’, value\_to\_convert))[/code] It can also convert seconds: [code]runscript(app.hms.convert(‘min’, value\_to\_convert)) -OR- runscript(shared.hms.convert(‘min’, value\_to\_convert))[/code] [hms.py](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/2X/4/4aedcb2a57debd3f406709471d6301267597e2d5.py) (181 Bytes) ---
**Author:** ![tbackus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/tbackus/32/5091_2.png) [@tbackus](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/tbackus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/4 "2014-10-08T13:18:43Z")
Thanks Kathy and Jordan, I will give both of them a try. ---
**Author:** ![aramirez](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/aramirez/32/5283_2.png) [@aramirez](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/aramirez)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/5 "2018-10-29T19:11:49Z")
Hi, I tested and worked fine this one: runscript(“shared.hms.convert(‘sec’, 120)”) BUT when I try to run using a property value like this: runscript(“shared.hms.convert(‘sec’, {Pozo\_ICH\_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue})”) I got the following error message: Exception: Error executing expression binding on Pozo\_ICH\_v3.Pozo\_ICH\_v3.Label 24.text caused by ExpressionException: Error parsing script for runScript() expression: SyntaxError: (“mismatched input ‘}’ expecting COLON”, (‘expression:runScript’, 1, 68, “\_\_RESULT = shared.hms.convert(‘sec’, {Pozo\_ICH\_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue})\n”)) ``` caused by SyntaxError: ("mismatched input '}' expecting COLON", ('', 1, 68, "__RESULT = shared.hms.convert('sec', {Pozo_ICH_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue})\n")) ``` Ignition v7.9.9 (b2018081621) Java: Oracle Corporation 1.8.0\_144 ---
**Author:** ![JordanCClark](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/jordancclark/32/83362_2.png) [@JordanCClark](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/JordanCClark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/6 "2018-10-29T19:32:29Z")
{Pozo\_ICH\_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue} ends up as a literal string. You’ll need to concatenate the value into it. Try: ```auto runscript(concat("shared.hms.convert('sec', ", toString({Pozo_ICH_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue}), ")")) ``` ---
**Author:** ![aramirez](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/aramirez/32/5283_2.png) [@aramirez](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/aramirez)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/7 "2018-10-29T19:33:33Z")
> [@JordanCClark](#): > > runscript(concat("shared.hms.convert('sec', ", toString({Pozo\_ICH\_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue}), ")")) Thank you... works perfect! ---
**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/8 "2018-10-29T19:35:58Z")
You can also use the newer runScript syntax to avoid the tricky/brittle concatentation: `runScript("shared.hms.convert", 0, "sec", {Pozo_ICH_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue})` ---
**Author:** ![aramirez](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/aramirez/32/5283_2.png) [@aramirez](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/aramirez)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/9 "2018-10-29T19:37:33Z")
> [@paul-griffith](#): > > runScript("shared.hms.convert", 0, "sec", {Pozo\_ICH\_v3.TiempoOFF.intValue}) Better idea... thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sanderd17](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/sanderd17/32/8735_2.png) [@Sanderd17](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Sanderd17)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 12:59pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/10 "2018-10-30T12:59:11Z")
IMO, it can just as easily be done without script. - start from a date (midnight) - add minutes or seconds like you want (needs to be integers, if you want high precision, you can add milliseconds as integers) - format as “HH:mm:ss” This doesn’t work if the hours value can reach more than 24 hours, but apart from that, it’s quite concise and easy to understand IMO. ```auto dateFormat( addSeconds( getDate(1970,1,1), toInt({Root Container.value} * 60) ), "HH:mm:ss" ) ``` ---
**Author:** ![JordanCClark](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/jordancclark/32/83362_2.png) [@JordanCClark](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/JordanCClark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/11 "2018-10-30T17:27:00Z")
When I wrote it four years ago, not all of those expression functions existed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KathyApplebaum](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kathyapplebaum/32/7261_2.png) [@KathyApplebaum](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/KathyApplebaum)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/expression-tag-to-convert-minutes-to-hh-mm-ss/9154/12 "2018-10-30T21:44:31Z")
We just assumed you could see into the future. 😉