Question

I’m curious if anyone can point me to a robust and well documented Date library for AS3. Specifically, I’d like one that works (at least in principal) like the Java date formatter, so that you can pass in a string of a specific type and get back a date object that can then be easily translated to an alternate timezone, etc. Working with the native Date object is an incredible PITA for when one needs to do things like this… I’m hoping I won’t have to re-invent this wheel from scratch.

TIA

Answer 1

ok, well… seeing as how no one else chimed in, I went ahead and wrote my own. It’s documented as to what it expects as the constructor, as well as how to get it to format dates and translate them to alternate timezones…

All the usual stuff about no guarantees about how well it works (or at all for that matter).

It has no external dependencies of any kind. Just create an .as file with a matching name (feel free to re-name it, if you like) and go to town.

All the public functions are at the top, with a little documentation (where not entirely self evident).

Hope it helps…

package  {
    public class DrDredelDate {     

        /*
        init new date by passing:
        a) nothing - an object with the current time will be generated
        b) a millisecond string for a specific time
        c) a time formatted in one of the following two ways:
            2013-01-01 00:00:00 -7:00   -- timzeone is optional, if omitted, date will be created as GMT
            or
            2012-01-18T23:30:42-08:00  -- timezone non-optional         
        */
        public function DrDredelDate(inD:String = null) {
            if(inD == null ){
                d = new Date(); 
                getDateVars(d)
            }
            else if(inD.replace(/\d+/,"") == ""){
                d = new Date(parseInt(inD))
                getDateVars(d);
            }
            else 
                d = convertFromString(inD);     
        }



        /**
        Format using the following control characters:
        m = month, 
        d = day, 
        yy = 2 digit year, 
        yyyy = 4 digit year, 
        h = 24 hour time, 
        M = minute, 
        s = second, 
        t = timezone as digits offset, 
        c = month abbr, 
        W = weekday 
        H = 12hour 
        a = am/pm 
        A = AM/PM
        T = timezone abbr //if available
        */      
        public function getFormattedDate(formatString:String):String{
            var ret:String = "";
            for(var i=0;i<formatString.length; i++){
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'm'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^mm/)){
                        ret += addLeadingZero(month);i++;continue;                      
                    }ret += month;continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'd'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^dd/)){
                        ret += addLeadingZero(date);i++;continue;                       
                    }ret += date;continue;
                }

                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'y'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^yyyy/)){
                        ret += year;i+=3;continue;                      
                    }else if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^yy/)){
                        ret += (year+"").substring(2,4);i++;continue;
                    }
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'h'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^hh/)){
                        ret += addLeadingZero(hours);i++;continue;                      
                    }ret += hours;continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'H'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^HH/)){
                        ret += addLeadingZero(militaryToClockHour());i++;continue;                      
                    }ret += militaryToClockHour();continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'a'){
                    ret += ampm();continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'A'){
                    ret += AMPM();continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'M'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^MM/)){
                        ret += addLeadingZero(minutes);i++;continue;                        
                    }ret += minutes;continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 's'){
                    if(formatString.substring(i).match(/^ss/)){
                        ret += addLeadingZero(seconds);i++;continue;                        
                    }ret += seconds;continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 't'){
                    ret += timezoneOffset;continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'T'){
                    ret += timezoneString;continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'c'){
                    ret += getMonthAbbr();continue;
                }
                if(formatString.charAt(i) == 'W'){
                    ret += getWeekday();continue;
                }               
                ret += formatString.charAt(i);
            }
            return ret;
        }   

        /**
        Usage:
            Returns a formatted string representation of this Date object converted over into the requested timezone. Note that this has no effect on the underlying date object and the returned value is simply a string representation. 
        arguments :
        format: pass in the same format as you would for the method above for the format param
        timeZoneOffset: pass in an abbr or one of the US tZones from mySQL or just a numeric offset representing the hour offset from GMT ie. -5 or +3      
        */
        public function getShiftedTimezoneFormattedDate(format:String, timeZoneOffset:String = "GMT"):String{
            var tzOffset = null;

            if( timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "GMT")
                tzOffset = 0;
            if( timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "EST" || timeZoneOffset == "US/Eastern")
                tzOffset = -5;
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "EDT")
                tzOffset = -4;
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "CST" || timeZoneOffset == "US/Central")
                tzOffset = -6;
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "CDT")
                tzOffset = -5;  
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "MST" || timeZoneOffset == "US/Mountain")
                tzOffset = -7;
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "MDT")
                tzOffset = -6;  
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "PST" || timeZoneOffset == "US/Pacific")
                tzOffset = -8;
            if(timeZoneOffset.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g,"") == "PDT")
                tzOffset = -7;          

            if(tzOffset == null){
                var operator = timeZoneOffset.charAt(0);
                tzOffset = parseInt(timeZoneOffset.replace("/:.*/",""));                
            }
            if(isNaN(tzOffset))
                return null

            tzOffset = tzOffset * 60 * 60 * 1000;
            var dTzOffset = -d.timezoneOffset * 60 * 1000;              
            var newMS = d.getTime() - dTzOffset + tzOffset;         
            var nDate:Date = new Date(newMS);           
            return new DrDredelDate(nDate.getTime() + "").getFormattedDate(format);
        }

        public function isAfterDate(comparisonDate:Date):Boolean{
            return(d.time > comparisonDate.time)
        }
        public function isSameAsDate(comparisonDate:Date):Boolean{
            return(d.time == comparisonDate.time)
        }

        public function getTime(){
            return d.time;
        }
        public function getDate(){
            return d;
        }



///////////NOTHING TO REALLY LOOK AT BELOW HERE////////////////
        public static var PST:String = "PST";
        public static var EST:String = "EST";
        public static var CST:String = "CST";
        public static var MST:String = "MST";   
        private var d:Date;
        public var year,month,monthName,date,weekDay,hours,minutes,seconds,timezoneOffset;

        private function getDateVars(d:Date){
            this.year = d.fullYear;
            this.month = d.month;
            this.date = d.date;
            this.hours = d.hours;
            this.minutes = d.minutes;
            this.seconds = d.seconds;
            this.timezoneOffset = d.timezoneOffset;
        }

        private function convertFromString(inD:String):Date{
            //2012-10-03 10:15:00 GMT-0800
            if(inD.match(/\d{4}\-\d{1,2}\-\d{1,2} \d{1,2}\:\d{1,2}\:\d{1,2}/)){
                return timeFromMySqlTimestamp(inD);
            }
            //2012-01-18T23:30:00-08:00
            if(inD.match(/\d{4}\-\d{1,2}\-\d{1,2}T\d{1,2}\:\d{1,2}\:\d{1,2}/)){
                return timeFromGenericTimestamp(inD);
            }
            return null;
        }

        private var monthAbbr = ['','Jan','Feb','Mar','Apr','May','Jun','Jul','Aug','Sep','Oct','Nov','Dec'];

        public function getWeekday(){
            return d.toString().split(" ")[0];
        }
        public function getMonthAbbr(){
            return d.toString().split(" ")[1];
        }

        private function timeFromMySqlTimestamp(inD:String):Date{
            //2012-10-19 03:15:22 PST
            var parts:Array = inD.split(" ");// 0 = date, 1 = hours, 2 = timezone           
            year = stripLeadingZero(parts[0].split("-")[0]);
            month = stripLeadingZero(parts[0].split("-")[1]);
            date = stripLeadingZero(parts[0].split("-")[2]);
            hours = stripLeadingZero(parts[1].split(":")[0]);
            minutes = stripLeadingZero(parts[1].split(":")[1]);
            seconds = stripLeadingZero(parts[1].split(":")[2]);
            try{
                timezoneOffset = getTZFromString(parts[2]);
            }catch(e:Error){
                timezoneOffset = "GMT-000";
            }

            return new Date(monthAbbr[month] + " " + date + " " + year + " " + hours + ":" + minutes + ":" + seconds + " " + timezoneOffset);//09 03 2012 23:39:05 GMT-0500
        }

        private var timezoneString = "";
        private function getTZFromString(inStr:String){
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "EST"){timezoneString = "EST";   return "GMT-0500"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "EDT"){timezoneString = "EDT";   return "GMT-0400"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "CST"){timezoneString = "CST";   return "GMT-0600"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "CDT"){timezoneString = "CDT";   return "GMT-0500"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "MST"){timezoneString = "MST";   return "GMT-0700"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "MDT"){timezoneString = "MDT";   return "GMT-0600"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "PST"){timezoneString = "PST";   return "GMT-0800"};
            if(inStr.toUpperCase().replace(/[^A-Z]/g) == "PDT"){timezoneString = "PDT";   return "GMT-0700"};
            if(inStr.charAt(0) == "-" || inStr.charAt(0) == "+") return "GMT" + inStr;
            return inStr;
        }

        private function timeFromGenericTimestamp(inD:String):Date{
            //2012-01-18T23:30:00-08:00
            var parts:Array = inD.split("T");// 0 = date, 1 = hours, 2 = timezone           
            year = stripLeadingZero(parts[0].split("-")[0]);
            month = stripLeadingZero(parts[0].split("-")[1]);
            date = stripLeadingZero(parts[0].split("-")[2]);
            hours = stripLeadingZero(parts[1].split(":")[0]);
            minutes = stripLeadingZero(parts[1].split(":")[1]);
            var secAndTZ = parts[1].split(":")[2];
            var plusMinusTok = (secAndTZ.indexOf("-") != -1)? "-" : "+";
            seconds = stripLeadingZero(secAndTZ.split(plusMinusTok)[0]);
            timezoneOffset = plusMinusTok + secAndTZ.split(plusMinusTok)[1] + "00";

            return new Date(monthAbbr[month] + " " + date + " " + year + " " + hours + ":" + minutes + ":" + seconds + " " + timezoneOffset);//09 03 2012 23:39:05 GMT-0500
        }

        private function addLeadingZero(inD:Number):String{
            return ( inD >= 10) ? inD + "" : "0" + inD;
        }
        private function stripLeadingZero(inStr:String){            
            if(inStr.replace(/\d+/,"") != ""){
                trace("DrDredelDate: stripLeadingZero: inStr " + inStr + " is non numeric. returning null");
                return null;
            }
            inStr = inStr.replace(/^0+/,"");
            if(inStr == "") 
                return 0;
            return parseInt(inStr);             
        }


        private function militaryToClockHour(){
            if(hours == 0 || hours == 12)
                return 12;
            if(hours < 12)return hours;
            return hours - 12;
        }
        private function AMPM(){
            return (hours < 12)?"AM":"PM";
        }
        private function ampm(){
            return (hours < 12)?"am":"pm";
        }

    }   
}