Literals
Dataview query language literals are expressions which represent constant values like a text ("Science") or a number (2021). They can be used as part as functions or of expressions like comparison. Some examples of Queries that use literals:
Literal (number) 2022 used in a comparison
```dataview
LIST
WHERE file.day.year = 2022
```
Literal (text) "Math" used in a function call
```dataview
LIST
WHERE contains(file.name, "Math")
```
Literal (link) [[Study MOC]] used as a source
```dataview
LIST
FROM [[Study MOC]]
```
Literal (date) date(yesterday) used in a comparison
```dataview
TASK
WHERE !completed AND file.day = date(yesterday)
```
Literal (duration) dur(2 days) used in a comparison
```dataview
LIST
WHERE end - start > dur(2 days)
```
Literals
Literals are static values that can be used as part of the Dataview Query Language (DQL), i.e. for comparisons.
The following is an extensive, but non-exhaustive list of possible literals in DQL.
General
| Literal |
Description |
0 |
The number zero |
1337 |
The positive number 1337 |
-200 |
The negative number -200 |
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" |
Text (sometimes referred to as "string") |
[[Science]] |
A link to the file named "Science" |
[[]] |
A link to the current file |
[1, 2, 3] |
A list of numbers 1, 2, and 3 |
[[1, 2],[3, 4]] |
A list of list [1, 2] and [3, 4] |
{ a: 1, b: 2 } |
An object with keys a and b, whereas a has value 1, b 2. |
date(2021-07-14) |
A date (read more below) |
dur(2 days 4 hours) |
A duration (read more below) |
Literals as field values
Literals are only interpreted this way when used inside a Query, not when used as a meta data value. For possible values and their data types for fields, please refer to Types of Metadata.
Dates
Whenever you use a field value in Date ISO format, you'll need to compare these fields against date objects. Dataview provides some shorthands for common use cases like tomorrow, start of current week etc. Please note that date() is also a function, which can be called on text to extract dates.
| Literal |
Description |
date(2021-11-11) |
A date, November 11th, 2021 |
date(2021-09-20T20:17) |
A date, September 20th, 2021 at 20:17 |
date(today) |
A date representing the current date |
date(now) |
A date representing the current date and time |
date(tomorrow) |
A date representing tomorrow's date |
date(yesterday) |
A date representing yesterday's date |
date(sow) |
A date representing the start of the current week |
date(eow) |
A date representing the end of the current week |
date(som) |
A date representing the start of the current month |
date(eom) |
A date representing the end of the current month |
date(soy) |
A date representing the start of the current year |
date(eoy) |
A date representing the end of the current year |
Durations
Durations are representatives of a time span. You can either define them directly or create them due to calculating with dates, and use these for i.e. comparisons.
Seconds
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 s) |
one second |
dur(3 s) |
three seconds |
dur(1 sec) |
one second |
dur(3 secs) |
three seconds |
dur(1 second) |
one second |
dur(3 seconds) |
three seconds |
Minutes
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 m) |
one minute |
dur(3 m) |
three minutes |
dur(1 min) |
one minute |
dur(3 mins) |
three minutes |
dur(1 minute) |
one minute |
dur(3 minutes) |
three minutes |
Hours
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 h) |
one hour |
dur(3 h) |
three hours |
dur(1 hr) |
one hour |
dur(3 hrs) |
three hours |
dur(1 hour) |
one hour |
dur(3 hours) |
three hours |
Days
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 d) |
one day |
dur(3 d) |
three days |
dur(1 day) |
one day |
dur(3 days) |
three days |
Weeks
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 w) |
one week |
dur(3 w) |
three weeks |
dur(1 wk) |
one week |
dur(3 wks) |
three weeks |
dur(1 week) |
one week |
dur(3 weeks) |
three weeks |
Months
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 mo) |
one month |
dur(3 mo) |
three month |
dur(1 month) |
one month |
dur(3 months) |
three months |
Years
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 yr) |
one year |
dur(3 yrs) |
three years |
dur(1 year) |
one year |
dur(3 years) |
three years |
Combinations
| Literal |
Description |
dur(1 s, 2 m, 3 h) |
three hours, two minutes, and one second |
dur(1 s 2 m 3 h) |
three hours, two minutes, and one second |
dur(1s 2m 3h) |
three hours, two minutes, and one second |
dur(1second 2min 3h) |
three hours, two minutes, and one second |