Question

Can you please recommend a solution how to achieve a format like this with NSDateFormatter using simple NSString format (i.e. HHMMYY etc..). The predefined styles almost match my requirement, but only almost.

I need this format:

15 Aug 12

27 Apr 11

31 Jun 12

If it’s not possible, should I use the class method dateFormatFromTemplate:options:locale:?

Answer 1

Look at the -setDateFormat method in the documentation, and use the date formats you would like to convert the date from the following guide.

Guide: http://unicode.org/reports/tr35/tr35-6.html#Date%5FFormat%5FPatterns

Documentation: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDateFormatter_Class/Reference/Reference.html

Using the aforementioned guide, you should be able to use the following code to convert the date.

NSDate *today = [NSDate date];
NSDateFormatter *dateFormat = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"dd MMM yy"];
NSString *dateString = [dateFormat stringFromDate:today];
NSLog(@"date: %@", dateString);
[dateFormat release];