# _murex_ Shell Docs

## mkarray: Calendar Date Ranges

> Create arrays of dates

## Description

Unlike bash, _murex_ also supports date ranges:

```  
» a: [25-dec-2020..05-jan-2021]
» a: [..25-dec-2020]
» a: [25-dec-2020..]
```

Please refer to [a (mkarray)](../commands/a.md) for more detailed usage of mkarray.

## Usage

    a: [start..end] -> <stdout>
    a: [start..end,start..end] -> <stdout>
    a: [start..end][start..end] -> <stdout>
    
All usages also work with `ja` and `ta` as well:

    ja: [start..end] -> <stdout>
    ta: data-type [start..end] -> <stdout>

## Examples

    » a: [25-Dec-2020..01-Jan-2021]
    25-Dec-2020
    26-Dec-2020
    27-Dec-2020
    28-Dec-2020
    29-Dec-2020
    30-Dec-2020
    31-Dec-2020
    01-Jan-2021
    
    » a: [31-Dec..25-Dec]
    31-Dec
    30-Dec
    29-Dec
    28-Dec
    27-Dec
    26-Dec
    25-Dec

## Detail

### Current Date

If the start value is missing (eg `[..01-Jan-2020]`) then mkarray (`a` et al)
will start the range from the current date and count up or down to the end.

If the end value is missing (eg `[01-Jan-2020..]`) then mkarray will start at
the start value, as usual, and count up or down to the current date.

For example, if today was 25th December 2020:

    » a: [23-December-2020..]
    23-December-2020
    24-December-2020
    25-December-2020
    
    » a: [..23-December-2020]
    25-December-2020
    24-December-2020
    23-December-2020
    
This can lead so some fun like countdowns:

    » out: "${a: [..01-January-2021] -> len -> =-1} days until the new year!"
    7 days until the new year!
    
### Case Sensitivity

Date ranges are case aware. If the ranges are uppercase then the return will be
uppercase. If the ranges are title case (capital first letter) then the return
will be in title case.

#### lower case

    » a: [01-jan..03-jan]
    01-jan
    02-jan
    03-jan
    
#### Title Case

    » a: [01-Jan..03-Jan]
    01-Jan
    02-Jan
    03-Jan
    
#### UPPER CASE

    » a: [01-JAN..03-JAN]
    01-JAN
    02-JAN
    03-JAN
    
### Supported Date Formatting

Below is the source for the supported formatting options for date ranges:

```go
package mkarray

var dateFormat = []string{
	// dd mm yy

	"02-Jan-06",
	"02-January-06",
	"02-Jan-2006",
	"02-January-2006",

	"02 Jan 06",
	"02 January 06",
	"02 Jan 2006",
	"02 January 2006",

	"02/Jan/06",
	"02/January/06",
	"02/Jan/2006",
	"02/January/2006",

	// mm dd yy

	"Jan-02-06",
	"January-02-06",
	"Jan-02-2006",
	"January-02-2006",

	"Jan 02 06",
	"January 02 06",
	"Jan 02 2006",
	"January 02 2006",

	"Jan/02/06",
	"January/02/06",
	"Jan/02/2006",
	"January/02/2006",

	// dd mm

	"02-Jan",
	"02-January",

	"02 Jan",
	"02 January",

	"02/Jan",
	"02/January",
}
```

If you do need any other formatting options not supported there, you can use
`datetime` to convert the output of `a`. eg:

    » a: [01-Jan-2020..03-Jan-2020] -> foreach { -> datetime --in "{go}02-Jan-2006" --out "{py}%A, %d %B"; echo }
    Wednesday, 01 January
    Thursday, 02 January
    Friday, 03 January

## See Also

* [mkarray/Special Ranges](../mkarray/special.md):
  Create arrays from ranges of dictionary terms (eg weekdays, months, seasons, etc)
* [commands/`@[` (range) ](../commands/range.md):
  Outputs a ranged subset of data from STDIN
* [commands/`[[` (element)](../commands/element.md):
  Outputs an element from a nested structure
* [commands/`[` (index)](../commands/index.md):
  Outputs an element from an array, map or table
* [commands/`a` (mkarray)](../commands/a.md):
  A sophisticated yet simple way to build an array or list
* [commands/`count`](../commands/count.md):
  Count items in a map, list or array
* [commands/`datetime` ](../commands/datetime.md):
  A date and/or time conversion tool (like `printf` but for date and time values)
* [commands/`ja` (mkarray)](../commands/ja.md):
  A sophisticated yet simply way to build a JSON array
* [commands/`mtac`](../commands/mtac.md):
  Reverse the order of an array
* [commands/`ta` (mkarray)](../commands/ta.md):
  A sophisticated yet simple way to build an array of a user defined data-type