Clock Shortest Circular Gap

Compute shortest signed circular clock gap, half-day ties forward on a fixed 86,400-second day; equal clocks give zero.

Description

Compute shortest signed circular clock gap, half-day ties forward on a fixed 86,400-second day; equal clocks give zero.

The shortest gap on a 24-hour circle can go forward or backward. Exactly half a day needs a direction convention.

When to use this tool

Compute shortest signed circular clock gap, half-day ties forward on a fixed 86,400-second day; equal clocks give zero.

Prepare the supplied from, to fields for this operation.
Compare the complete example with the representation used by your own input before carrying the result into another step.

How to use the tool and how it works

Enter from, to. Use the exact text syntax, units and index conventions explained below.
Run the tool. If input validation fails, correct the supplied fields before interpreting any result.
Read result.gap, result.signedGap. Interpret false, null and empty lists using the distinctions below; they can be valid outputs.

Find the forward modulo gap, return its minimum with the backward gap as gap and choose positive signedGap for forward distances up to 43,200, otherwise forward minus 86,400.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and representation	Accepted input
from	from.	Safe integer
to	to.	Safe integer

Output field	Interpretation
result	Object containing the named outputs below.
result.gap	The gap value under the stated formula or text convention.
result.signedGap	The signed gap value under the stated formula or text convention.

json

{
  "input": {
    "from": 86390,
    "to": 10
  },
  "output": {
    "result": {
      "gap": 20,
      "signedGap": 20
    }
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

The half-day tie is positive. This is circular clock arithmetic, not elapsed time between dated observations.
Every declared top-level field is required and unexpected fields are rejected. Numeric inputs must be finite; ordinary text fields are bounded to 8,192 UTF-16 code units, with tighter operation-specific limits where stated.
Lists are limited to 128 entries. JSON text must meet bounded size and depth checks, and numeric outputs beyond the safe finite magnitude are rejected. Exact large integers use decimal strings.
Indexes are zero-based and spans have an exclusive end unless explicitly stated otherwise. A valid false, null or empty-list result is distinct from malformed input.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Keep elapsed durations, circular clocks, calendar months and epoch offsets distinct. Use a date/time method with explicit timezone and timescale rules for dated instants; arithmetic on one representation does not supply the others.

References

Tool behavior and example: Clock Shortest Circular Gap — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Clock Forward Circular Gap
Compute forward circular clock gap on a fixed 86,400-second day; equal clocks give zero.
Clock Components to Seconds Of Day
Join validated ordinary civil clock components into seconds of day; leap-second 60 is not accepted.