> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex-xdr-3.x/cortex-xdr-3.x-documentation/cortex-xdr-xql/functions/parse_epoch.md).

# parse\_epoch

**Syntax**

```programlisting
parse_epoch("<format string>", <timestamp field>[, "<time zone>",] ["<time unit>"])
```

**Description**

The `parse_epoch()` function returns a Unix epoch TIMESTAMP object after converting a string representation of a timestamp. The `<time zone>` offset is optional to configure using an hours offset, such as “+08:00”, or using a time zone name from the [List of Supported Time Zones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones), such as "America/Chicago". When you do not configure a timezone, the default is `UTC`. The `<time unit>` is optional to configure and indicates whether the Unix epoch integer value represents seconds, milliseconds, or microseconds. These values are supported, and the default is used when none is configured:

* SECONDS (default)
* MILLIS
* MICROS

{% hint style="info" %}

### Important

The order of the `<time zone>` and `<time unit>` matters. The `<time zone>` must be defined first followed by the `<time unit>`. If the `<time zone>` is set after the `<time unit>`, the default time zone is used and the configured value is ignored.
{% endhint %}

**Examples**

* With a time zone configured:

  Returns a maximum of 100 `xdr_data` records, which includes a timestamp field called `new_time` in the format `MMM dd YYYY HH:mm:ss`, such as `Dec 25th 2008 04:30:00`. This `new_time` field is comprised by taking a character string representation of a timestamp "Thu Dec 25 07:30:00 2008" and adding to it +03:00 hours as the time zone format. This string timestamp is then converted to a Unix epoch TIMESTAMP object in milliseconds using the `parse_epoch` function, and this resulting value is converted to the final timestamp using the [to\_timestamp](/cortex-xdr-3.x/cortex-xdr-3.x-documentation/cortex-xdr-xql/functions/to_timestamp.md) function.

  ```programlisting
  dataset = xdr_data
  | alter new_time = to_timestamp(parse_epoch("%c", "Thu Dec 25 07:30:00 2008", "+3", "millis"))
  | fields new_time
  | limit 100
  ```
* Without a time zone or time unit configured:

  Returns a maximum of 100 `xdr_data` records, which includes a timestamp field called `new_time` in the format `MMM dd YYYY HH:mm:ss`, such as `Dec 25th 2008 04:30:00`. This `new_time` field is comprised by taking a character string representation of a timestamp "Thu Dec 25 07:30:00 2008" and adding to it a UTC time zone format (default when none configured). This string timestamp is then converted to a Unix epoch TIMESTAMP object in seconds (default when none configured) using the `parse_epoch` function, and this resulting value is converted to the final timestamp using the [to\_timestamp](/cortex-xdr-3.x/cortex-xdr-3.x-documentation/cortex-xdr-xql/functions/to_timestamp.md) function.

  ```programlisting
  dataset = xdr_data
  | alter new_time = to_timestamp(parse_epoch("%c", "Thu Dec 25 07:30:00 2008"))
  | fields new_time
  | limit 100
  ```


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