to_unix_timestamp, get error "invalid timestamp format: input contains invalid characters"

[StefanSa]

hi there,
i have this here:

.event.start = join!([.date, .time], separator: " ")
.event.start = parse_timestamp!(.event.start, format: "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
.nano_start = to_unix_timestamp(t'.event.start', unit: "milliseconds")

event.start a correct timestamp, 2021-12-30T15:59:34Zbut get this error message.

error[E601]: invalid timestamp
  ┌─ :6:33
  │
6 │ .nano_start = to_unix_timestamp(t'.event.start', unit: "milliseconds")
  │                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ invalid timestamp format: input contains invalid characters
  │
  = see documentation about timestamps at https://vrl.dev/expressions/#timestamp
  = see language documentation at https://vrl.dev

[spencergilbert]

Hey @StefanSa I think you just need to remove the t'...' from that last line. That's instructing VRL to treat the contents as a literal timestamp, you just want the value at that path so just doing to_unix_timestamp(.event.start, unit: "milliseconds") should work for you.

[StefanSa]

@spencergilbert
thanks for the tip, this now works as it should.
to_unix_timestamp!(.event.start, unit: "milliseconds")