Querying the date and hour in a time stamp field [MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS]
- The ability to calculate the HH:MM:SS portion of Time Stamp field does not currently exist.
- You can query against the Time Stamp field successfully with a query but only the date portion is calculated.
- It is important to be aware of these limitations before you use the Time Stamp field to store [MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS] hoping you might use the data via query capabilities. The Time Stamp field does not offer any added query advantages.
Resolving the problem
Queries do calculate results correctly and you can query against a time stamp field [MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS] using date comparisons but it factors only the date portion when the results are calculated.
Can the contact source of a program use the timestamp field in a query?
If the contact source of a program is a query that uses a timestamp field, the program does not pull in contacts because a query is not able to calculate the timestamp field correctly.
Although a classic query can calculate correctly, classic queries cannot be associated to a program as the contact source.
Instead of using a program for your automation solution, evaluate your automation needs, and see if an hourly recurring automated message group could work for you, because you can associate a classic query to an automated message group.