How to get string and Date object from TIMESTAMP in Firebase Functions?

Question

I got timestamp in Firebase Functions with

admin.database.ServerValue.TIMESTAMP

However, when I pass it as a string, it becomes [object object] I saved it in Firebase Realtime database and when I checked it from console I saw 1505298866520 which I think it is milliseconds since UNIX epoch. Do you know how can I get string from it or how can I do time calculations with it? Or what type of object TIMESTAMP returns?

Cloud Functions runs regular JavaScript. So you question boils down to [how to convert a timestamp to a date string in JavaScript](https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+convert+a+timestamp+to+a+date+string+in+JavaScript), which seems to lead to this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/847185/convert-a-unix-timestamp-to-time-in-javascript — Frank van Puffelen, Sep 13 '17 at 14:20

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 13 '17 at 14:16

The firebase.database.ServerValue.TIMESTAMP or admin.database.ServerValue.TIMESTAMP hold the following object {.sv: "timestamp"}. This is a specific firebase-database object. That tells the server it should use the server's UNIX-time when an object is added to the database.

That is the reason you can not use it as a date object in javascript.

If you use admin.database.ServerValue.TIMESTAMP on the server via cloud functions it should represent the same as new Date().getTime()

How to get string and Date object from TIMESTAMP in Firebase Functions?

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