661 lines
26 KiB
Markdown
661 lines
26 KiB
Markdown
# qdate - A Wrapper for Erlang Date and Timezone Management
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[](https://travis-ci.org/choptastic/qdate)
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## Purpose
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Erlang Date and Time management is rather primitive, but improving.
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[dh_date](https://github.com/daleharvey/dh_date), of which `ec_date` in
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[erlware_commons](https://github.com/erlware/erlware_commons) is a fork, is a
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huge step towards formatting and parsing dates in a way that compares nicely
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with PHP's [date](http://php.net/manual/en/function.date.php) and
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[strtotime](http://php.net/manual/en/function.strtotime.php) functions.
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Unfortunately, `ec_date` doesn't deal with timezones, but conveniently,
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the project [erlang_localtime](https://github.com/dmitryme/erlang_localtime)
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does.
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It is the express purpose of this `qdate` package to bring together the
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benefits of `ec_date` and `erlang_localtime`, as well as extending the
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capabilities of both to provide for other needed tools found in a single
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module.
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`qdate` will provide, under the roof of a single module date and time formatting
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and parsing from and into:
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+ Formatting Strings
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+ Erlang Date Format
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+ Erlang Now Format
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+ Unixtime integers
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#### Acceptable Date Formats
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+ Erlang Date Format: `{{Y,M,D},{H,M,S}}`
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+ Erlang Now Format: `{MegaSecs, Secs, MicroSecs}`
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+ Date String: `"2013-12-31 08:15pm"` (including custom formats as defined
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with `qdate:register_parser/2` - see below)
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+ Integer Unix Timestamp: 1388448000
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+ A Two-tuple, where the first element is one of the above, and the second
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is a timezone. (i.e. `{{{2008,12,21},{23,59,45}}, "EST"}` or
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`{"2008-12-21 11:59:45pm", "EST"}`). **Note:** While, you can specify a
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timezone along with unix timestamps or the Erlang now format, it won't do
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anything, as both of those timestamps are absolute, and imply GMT.
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All while doing so by allowing you to either set a timezone by some arbitrary
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key or by using the current process's Pid is the key.
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Further, while `ec_date` doesn't support PHP's timezone characters (e, I, O, P,
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T, Z, r, and c), `qdate` will handle them for us.
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## Exported Functions:
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### Conversion Functions
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+ `to_string(FormatString, ToTimezone, Date)` - "FormatString" is a string
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that follows PHP's `date` function formatting rules. The date will be
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converted to the specified `ToTimezone`.
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+ `to_string(FormatString, Date)` - same as `to_string/3`, but the `Timezone`
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is intelligently determined (see below)
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+ `to_string(FormatString)` - same as `to_string/2`. but uses the current
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time as `Date`
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+ `to_date(ToTimezone, Date)` - converts any date/time format to Erlang date
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format. Will first convert the date to the timezone `ToTimezone`.
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+ `to_date(Date)` - same as `to_date/2`, but the timezone is determined (see below).
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+ `to_now(Date)` - converts any date/time format to Erlang now format.
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+ `to_unixtime(Date)` - converts any date/time format to a unixtime integer
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A **ToTimezone** value of the atom `auto` will automatically determine the
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timezone. For example, `to_date(Date, auto)` is exactly the same as
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`to_date(Date)`
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**A Note About Argument Order**: In all cases, `ToTimezone` is optional and if
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omitted, will be determined as described below in "Understanding Timezone
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Determining and Conversion". If `ToTimezone` is specified, it will always be
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immediately left of the `Disambiguate` argument (if it's specified), which is
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always immediately left of `Date` argument. `Date` will always be the last
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argument to any of the conversion and formatting functions.
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#### Understanding Timezone Determining and Conversions
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There is a lot of timezone inferring going on here.
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If a `Date` string contains timezone information (i.e.
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`"2008-12-21 6:00pm PST"`), then `qdate` will parse that properly, determine
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the specified `PST` timezone, and do conversions based on that timezone.
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Further, you can specify a timezone manually, by specifying it as as a
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two-tuple for `Date` (see "Acceptable Date formats" above).
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If no timezone is specified or determinable in a `Date` variable, then `qdate`
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will infer the timezone in the following order.
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+ If specified by `qdate:set_timezone(Timezone)` for that process. Note, as
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specified below (in the "Timezone Functions" section), `set_timezone/1` is
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a shortcut to `set_timezone(self(), Timezone)`, meaning that
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`set_timezone/1` only applies to that *specific* process. If none is
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specified.
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+ If no timezone is specified for the process, `qdate` looks at the `qdate`
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application variable `default_timezone`.
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+ If no timezone is specified by either of the above, `qdate` assumes "GMT"
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for all dates.
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+ A timezone value of `auto` will act as if no timezone is specified.
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#### Disambiguating Ambiguous Timezone Conversions
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Sometimes, when youre converting a datetime from one timezone to another, there
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are potentially two different results if the conversion happens to land on in a
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timezone that's in the middle of a Daylight Saving conversion. For example,
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converting "11-Nov-2013 1:00:am" in "America/New York" to "GMT" could be both
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"5am" and "6am" in GMT, since "1am EST". This is a side effect of the
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"intelligence" of `qdate` - `qdate` would notice that 1am in New York is EST,
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and should be converted to "1am EST", and then do the conversion from "1am EST"
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to "GMT". This can lead to confusion.
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Further, since `qdate` attempts to be "smart" about mistakenly entered
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timezones (ie, if you entered "2013-01-01 EDT", `qdate` knows that "EDT"
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(Eastern Daylight Time) doesn't apply to January first, so it *assumes* you
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meant "EST".
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**THE SOLUTION** to this tangled mess that we call Daylight Saving Time is to
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provide an option to disambiguate if you so desire. By default disambiguation
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is disabled, and `qdate` will just guess as to it's best choice. But if you so
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desire, you can make sure qdate does *both* conversions, and returns both.
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You can do this by passing a `Disambiguation` argument to `to_string`,
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`to_date`, `to_unixtime`, and `to_now`. `Disambiguation` can be an atom of the
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values:
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+ `prefer_standard` *(Default Behavior)*: If an ambiguous result occurs,
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qdate will return the date in standard time rather than daylight time.
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+ `prefer_daylight`: If an ambiguous result occurs, qdate will return the
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preferred daylight time.
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+ `both`: If an ambiguous result occurs, `qdate` will return the tuple:
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`{ambiguous, DateStandard, DateDaylight}`, where `DateStandard` is the date
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in Standard Time, and `DateDaylight` is the date in Daylight Saving Time.
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So the expanded conversions functions are:
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+ `to_date(ToTimezone, Disambiguate, Date)`
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+ `to_string(FormatString, ToTimezone, Disambiguate, Date)`
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+ `to_unixtime(Disambiguate, Date)`
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+ `to_now(Disambiguate, Date)`
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Examples:
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```erlang
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1> qdate:set_timezone("GMT").
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ok
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%% Here, converting GMT 2013-11-03 6AM to America/New York yields an ambiguous
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%% result
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2> qdate:to_date("America/New York", both, {{2013,11,3},{6,0,0}}).
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{ambiguous,{{2013,11,3},{1,0,0}},{{2013,11,3},{2,0,0}}}
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%% Let's just use daylight time
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3> qdate:to_date("America/New York", prefer_daylight, {{2013,11,3},{6,0,0}}).
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{{2013,11,3},{2,0,0}}
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%% Let's just use standard time (the default behavior)
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4> qdate:to_date("America/New York", prefer_standard, {{2013,11,3},{6,0,0}}).
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{{2013,11,3},{1,0,0}}
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5> qdate:set_timezone("America/New York").
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ok
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%% Switching from 1AM Eastern Time to GMT yields a potentially ambiguous result
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6> qdate:to_date("GMT", both, {{2013,11,3},{1,0,0}}).
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{ambiguous,{{2013,11,3},{6,0,0}},{{2013,11,3},{5,0,0}}}
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%% Use daylight time for conversion
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7> qdate:to_date("GMT", prefer_daylight, {{2013,11,3},{1,0,0}}).
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{{2013,11,3},{5,0,0}}
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%% Here we demonstrated that even if we ask for "both", if there is no
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%% ambiguity, the plain date is returned
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8> qdate:to_date("GMT", both, {{2013,11,3},{5,0,0}}).
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{{2013,11,3},{10,0,0}}
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```
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#### Conversion Functions provided for API compatibility with `ec_date`
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+ `parse/1` - Same as `to_date(Date)`
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+ `nparse/1` - Same as `to_now(Date)`
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+ `format/1` - Same as `to_string/1`
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+ `format/2` - Same as `to_string/2`
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### Date and Time Comparison
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`qdate` provides a few convenience functions for performing date comparisons.
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+ `compare(A, B)` - Like C's `strcmp`, returns:
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+ `0`: `A` and `B` are exactly the same.
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+ `-1`: `A` is less than (before) `B`.
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+ `1`: `A` is greater than (after) `B`.
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+ `compare(A, Operator, B)` - Operator is an infix comparison operator, and
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the function will return true if:
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+ `'='`, or `'=='` - `A` is the same time as `B`
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+ `'/='`, or `'=/='` or `'!='` - `A` is not the same time as `B`
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+ `'<'` - `A` is before `B`
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+ `'>'` - `A` is after `B`
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+ `'=<'` or `'<='` - `A` is before or equal to `B`
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+ `'>='` or `'=>'` - `A` is after or equal to `B`
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**Note 1:** `Operator` must be an atom.
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**Note 2:** These functions will properly compare times with different timezones
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(for example: `compare("12am CST",'==',"1am EST")` will properly return true)
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### Timezone Functions
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+ `set_timezone(Key, TZ)` - Set the timezone to TZ for the key `Key`
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+ `set_timezone(TZ)` - Sets the timezone, and uses the Pid from `self()` as
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the `Key`. Also links the process for removal from the record when the Pid
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dies.
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+ `get_timezone(Key)` - Gets the timezone assigned to `Key`
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+ `get_timezone()` - Gets the timezone using `self()` as the `Key`
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+ `clear_timezone(Key)` - Removes the timezone record associated with `Key`.
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+ `clear_timezone()` - Removes the timezone record using `self()` as `Key`.
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This function is not necessary for cleanup, most of the time, since if
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`Key` is a Pid, the `qdate` server will automatically clean up when the
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Pid dies.
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**Note:** If no timezone is set, then anything relying on the timezone will
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default to GMT.
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### Registering Custom Parsers and Formatters
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You can register custom parsers and formatters with the `qdate` server. This
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allows you to specify application-wide aliases for certain common formatting
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strings in your application, or to register custom parsing engines which will
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be attempted before engaging the `ec_date` parser.
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### Registering and Deregistering Parsers
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+ `register_parser(Key, ParseFun)` - Registers a parsing function with the
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`qdate` server. `ParseFun` is expected to have the arity of 1, and is
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expected to return a DateTime format (`{{Year,Month,Day},{Hour,Min,Sec}}`)
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or, if your ParseFun is capable of parsing out a Timezone, the return
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the tuple `{DateTime, Timezone}`. Keep in mind, if your string already ends
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with a Timezone, the parser will almost certainly extract the timezone
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before it gets to your custom `ParseFun`. If your custom parser is not
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able to parse the string, then it should return `undefined`.
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+ `deregister_parser(Key)` - If you previously registered a parser with the
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`qdate` server, you can deregister it by its `Key`.
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### Registering and Deregistering Formatters
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+ `register_format(Key, FormatString)` - Register a formatting string with
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the `qdate` server, which can then be used in place of the typical
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formatting string.
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+ `deregister_format(Key)` - Deregister the formatting string from the
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`qdate` server.
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### About backwards compatibility with `ec_date` and deterministic parsing
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`ec_date` and `dh_date` both have a quirk that bothers me with respect to the
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parsing of dates that causes some date parsing to be *non-deterministic*. That
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is, if parsing an incomplete date or time (ie, a text string that is missing a
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time or a date), `ec_date` will automatically insert the current values of
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those as read by the system clock.
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For example, if the following lines are run a few seconds apart:
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```erlang
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1> ec_date:parse("2012-02-04").
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{{2012,2,4},{0,1,10}}
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2> ec_date:parse("2012-02-04").
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{{2012,2,4},{0,1,12}}
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3> ec_date:parse("2012-02-04").
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{{2012,2,4},{0,1,13}}
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```
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As you can see, even though the inputs are the same each time, the resulting
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parsed dates have the current time inferred. The same behavior can be observed
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if parsing a time without a date:
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```erlang
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4> ec_date:parse("7pm").
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{{2013,4,30},{19,0,0}}
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```
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As you can see, even though the time did not specify a date, the resulting
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parsed datetime has the date inferred from the current date. Admittedly,
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inferring the date bothers me less than inferring the time, but in the name of
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consistency, there should be options for enabling or disabling both.
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#### The Solution For Non-deterministic parsing
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To solve this issue for users that are bothered by this, while preserving
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backwards compatibility for folks who prefer this, we're going to introduce a
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`qdate` application environment variable called `deterministic_parsing`.
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The value of `deterministic_parsing` can be a tuple of the following format:
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`{DatePref, TimePref}`
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Where `DatePref` and `TimePref` are either of the following atoms:
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+ `now` - Automatically fill in the missing date or time components with the
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current time (the is the behavior described above)
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+ `zero` - Fill in the missing date or time components with zeroed out
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values. This means that if a date is missing, it'll be set to the unix
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epoch (`{1970,1,1}`) and if a time is missing, it'll be set to midnight:
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`{0,0,0}`.
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So, the acceptable combinations can be the following:
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+ `{zero, zero}` - Any missing components will be replaced with zero-values.
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**(This is the qdate default behavior)**
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+ `{now, zero}` - If a date is missing, insert the current date, but if a
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time is missing, set it to midnight.
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+ `{zero, now}` - If a date is missing, set it to the unix epoch, and if a
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time is missing, set it to the current time of day.
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+ `{now, now}` - If either date or time are missing, set it to the current
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date or current time.
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**Note:** If this application value is not set, the default behavior for
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`qdate` is to avoid non-determinism and use `{zero, zero}`.
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To set this value, you can either set the value manually in code with:
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```erlang
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application:set_env(qdate, deterministic_parsing, {now, zero}).
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```
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or (and this is the preferred method) use a config file and load it with
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`erl -config path/to/file.config`
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Sample config file specifying this application variable:
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```erlang
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[{qdate, [
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{deterministic_parsing, {now, zero}}
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]}].
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```
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## Demonstration
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### Basic Conversion and Formatting
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```erlang
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%% Let's start by making a standard Erlang DateTime tuple
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1> Date = {{2013,12,21},{12,24,21}}.
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{{2013,12,21},{12,24,21}}
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%% Let's do a simple formatting of the date
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2> DateString = qdate:to_string("Y-m-d h:ia", Date).
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"2013-12-21 12:24pm"
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%% We can also specify the format string as a binary
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3> DateBinary = qdate:to_string(<<"Y-m-d h:ia">>,Date).
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<<"2013-12-21 12:24pm">>
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%% And we can parse the original string to get back a DateTime object
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4> qdate:to_date(DateString).
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{{2013,12,21},{12,24,0}}
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%% We can do the same with a binary
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5> qdate:to_date(DateBinary).
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{{2013,12,21},{12,24,0}}
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%% We can also parse that date and get a Unix timestamp
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6> DateUnix = qdate:to_unixtime(DateString).
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1387628640
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%% And we can take that Unix timestamp and format it to a string
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7> qdate:to_string("n/j/Y g:ia", DateUnix).
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"12/21/2013 12:24pm"
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%% We can take a date string and get an Erlang now() tuple
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8> DateNow = qdate:to_now(DateString).
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{1387,628640,0}
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%% And we can convert it back
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9> DateString2 = qdate:to_string("n/j/Y g:ia", DateNow).
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"12/21/2013 12:24pm"
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```
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**Note:** That by this point, we've used, as the `Date` parameter, all natively
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supported date formats: Erlang `datetime()`, Erlang `now()`, Unix timestamp,
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and formatted text strings either as a list or as a binary.
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For the most part, this will be the bread and butter usage of `qdate`. Easily
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converting from one format to another without having to worry about what format
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your data is currently in. `qdate` will figure it out for you.
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*But now, we're going to start getting interesting!*
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### Registering Custom Parsers
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```erlang
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%% Let's format our date into something shorter. This may, for example, be a
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%% date format you may deal with when receiving a data-set from a client.
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10> CompactDate = qdate:to_string("Ymd", DateNow).
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"20131221"
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%% Let's try to parse it
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11> qdate:to_date(CompactDate).
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** exception throw: {ec_date,{bad_date,"20131221"}}
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in function ec_date:do_parse/3 (src/ec_date.erl, line 92)
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in call from qdate:to_date/2 (src/qdate.erl, line 169)
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%% Well obviously, this isn't a standard format by any means, so it crashes.
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%% You can parse it yourself before passing it to `qdate` or if you deal with
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%% this format frequently enough, you can register it as a custom parser and
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%% qdate will intelligently parse it if it can.
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%% So let's make a simple parser for it that uses regular expressions:
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12> ParseCompressedDate =
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12> fun(RawDate) when length(RawDate)==8 ->
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12> try re:run(RawDate,"^(\\d{4})(\\d{2})(\\d{2})$",[{capture,all_but_first,list}]) of
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12> nomatch -> undefined;
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12> {match, [Y,M,D]} ->
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12> ParsedDate = {list_to_integer(Y), list_to_integer(M), list_to_integer(D)},
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12> case calendar:valid_date(ParsedDate) of
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12> true -> {ParsedDate, {0,0,0}};
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12> false -> undefined
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12> end
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12> catch _:_ -> undefined
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12> end;
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12> (_) -> undefined
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12> end.
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#Fun<erl_eval.6.82930912>
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%% And now we'll register the parser with the `qdate` server, giving it a "Key"
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%% of the atom 'compressed_date'
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13> qdate:register_parser(compressed_date,ParseCompressedDate).
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compressed_date
|
|
|
|
%% Now, let's try parsing that again
|
|
14> qdate:to_date(CompactDate).
|
|
{{2013,12,21},{0,0,0}}
|
|
|
|
%% Huzzah! It worked. From here on out, `qdate`, will properly parse that kind
|
|
%% of data if that format is passed, otherwise, it will merely skip over that
|
|
%% parser and engage the standard parser in `ec_date`
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
**Note:** Currently, `qdate` expects custom parsers to not crash. If a custom
|
|
parser crashes, an exception will be thrown. This is done in order to help you
|
|
debug your parsers. If a parser receives an unexpected input and crashes, the
|
|
exception will be generated and you will be able to track down what input caused
|
|
the crash.
|
|
|
|
**Another Note:** Custom parsers are expected to return either:
|
|
+ A `datetime()` tuple. (ie {{2012,12,21},{14,45,23}}).
|
|
+ The atom `undefined` if this parser is not a match for the supplied value
|
|
|
|
|
|
### Registering Custom Formats
|
|
|
|
```erlang
|
|
%% Let's format a date to a rather long string
|
|
15> qdate:to_string("l, F jS, Y g:i A T",DateString).
|
|
"Saturday, December 12st, 2013 12:24 PM GMT"
|
|
|
|
%% Boy, that sure was a long string, I hope you can remember all those
|
|
%% characters in that order!
|
|
|
|
%% But, you don't have to: if that's a common format you use in your
|
|
%% application, you can register your format with the `qdate` server, and then
|
|
%% easiy refer to that format by its key.
|
|
|
|
%% So let's take that format and register it
|
|
16> qdate:register_format(longdate, "l, F jS, Y g:i A T").
|
|
ok
|
|
|
|
%% Now, let's try to format our string
|
|
17> LongDateString = qdate:to_string(longdate, DateString).
|
|
"Saturday, December 21st, 2013 12:24 PM GMT"
|
|
|
|
%% It was certainly easier to remember the atom 'longdate' than trying to
|
|
%% remember the seemingly random "l, F jS, Y g:i A T".
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Ain't it nice, making things easier for you?
|
|
|
|
### Timezone Demonstrations
|
|
|
|
The observant reader would have noticed something else. We used **timezones**
|
|
in the last couple of calls. Indeed, not only can `qdate` deal with formatting
|
|
timezones, but it can also parse them, convert them, and set them for
|
|
simplified conversions.
|
|
|
|
Let's see how we do this
|
|
|
|
```erlang
|
|
%% Let's take that last long date string (that was in GMT) and move it to
|
|
%% Pacific time
|
|
18> LongDatePDT = qdate:to_string(longdate, "PDT", LongDateString).
|
|
"Saturday, December 21st, 2013 4:24 AM PST"
|
|
|
|
%% See something interesting there? Yeah, we told it it was PDT, but it output
|
|
%% PST. That's because PST is not in daylight saving time in December, and
|
|
%% `qdate` was able to intelligently infer that, and fix it for us.
|
|
|
|
%% Note, that when in doubt, `qdate` will *not* convert. For example, not all
|
|
%% places in Eastern Standard Time do daylight saving time, and as such, EST
|
|
%% will not necessarily convert to EDT.
|
|
|
|
%% However, if you provide the timezone as something like "America/New York",
|
|
%% it *will* figure that out, and do the correct conversion for you.
|
|
|
|
%% Let's see how it handles unix times with strings that contain timezones.
|
|
%% If you recall, LongDateString = "Saturday, December 21st, 2013 12:24 PM GMT"
|
|
%% and LongDatePDT = "Saturday, December 21st, 2013 4:24 AM PST"
|
|
19> qdate:to_unixtime(LongDateString).
|
|
1387628640
|
|
|
|
%% Now let's try it with the Pacific Time one
|
|
20> qdate:to_unixtime(LongDatePDT).
|
|
1387628640
|
|
|
|
%% How exciting! `qdate` properly returned the same unix timestamp, since unix
|
|
%% timestamps are timezone neutral. That is because unix timestamps are the
|
|
%% number of seconds since midnight on 1970-01-01 GMT. As such, unix timestamps
|
|
%% should not change, just because you're in a different timezone.
|
|
|
|
%% Let's set the timezone for the current process to EST to test that previous
|
|
%% assertion
|
|
21> qdate:set_timezone("EST").
|
|
ok
|
|
|
|
%% Now let's try converting those dates to unixtimes again
|
|
22> qdate:to_unixtime(LongDateString).
|
|
1387628640
|
|
23> qdate:to_unixtime(LongDatePDT).
|
|
1387628640
|
|
|
|
%% Great! They didn't change, as we expected. The unix timestamps have remained
|
|
%% Timezone neutral.
|
|
|
|
%% Let's clear the current process's timezone (which basically means setting it
|
|
%% to the application variable `default_timezone`, or, in this case, just
|
|
%% resetting it to "GMT"
|
|
24> qdate:clear_timezone().
|
|
ok
|
|
|
|
%% Now, let's imagine you run a website. The main site may have its own
|
|
%% timezone, and the users each also have their own timezones. So we'll
|
|
%% register timezones for each the main site, and each user. That way, if we
|
|
%% need to ensure that a date is presented in an appropriate timezone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
%% Let's register some timezones by "Timezone Keys".
|
|
25> qdate:set_timezone(my_site, "America/Chicago").
|
|
ok
|
|
26> qdate:set_timezone({user,1},"Australia/Melbourne").
|
|
ok
|
|
|
|
%% So we'll get the date object of the previously set unix timestamp `DateUnix`
|
|
27> qdate:to_date(DateUnix).
|
|
{{2013,12,21},{12,24,0}}
|
|
|
|
%% And let's format it, also showing the timezone offset that was used
|
|
28> qdate:to_string("Y-m-d H:i P", DateUnix).
|
|
"2013-12-21 12:24 +00:00"
|
|
|
|
%% Since we cleared the timezone for the current process, it just used "GMT"
|
|
|
|
%% Let's get the date again, but this time, use to the Timezone key `my_site`
|
|
29> qdate:to_date(my_site, DateUnix).
|
|
{{2013,12,21},{6,24,0}}
|
|
|
|
%% And let's format it to show again the timezone offset
|
|
30> qdate:to_string("Y-m-d H:i P", my_site, DateUnix).
|
|
"2013-12-21 06:24 -06:00"
|
|
|
|
%% Finally, let's get the date using the User's timezone key
|
|
31> qdate:to_date({user,1}, DateUnix).
|
|
{{2013,12,21},{23,24,0}}
|
|
|
|
%% And again, formatted to show the timezone offset
|
|
32> UserDateWithHourOffset = qdate:to_string("Y-m-d H:i P", {user,1}, DateUnix).
|
|
"2013-12-21 23:24 +11:00"
|
|
|
|
%% And finally, let's just test some more parsing and converting. Here, despite
|
|
%% the fact that the timezone is presented as "+11:00", `qdate` is able to
|
|
%% do the proper conversion, and give us back the same unix timestamp that was
|
|
%% used.
|
|
33> qdate:to_unixtime(UserDateWithHourOffset).
|
|
1387628640
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### One last bit of magic that may confuse you without an explanation
|
|
|
|
Magic is usually bad, you know what's worse? Timezones and Daylight Saving
|
|
Time. So we use a little magic to try and simplify them for us. Below is the
|
|
extent of the confusion with related to inferring timezones and formatting dates
|
|
|
|
```erlang
|
|
%% First, let's set the timezone to something arbitrary
|
|
34> qdate:set_timezone("EST").
|
|
ok
|
|
|
|
%% Let's convert this date to basically the same time format, just without the
|
|
%% timezone identifier.
|
|
35> qdate:to_string("Y-m-d H:i","2012-12-21 00:00 PST").
|
|
"2012-12-21 03:00"
|
|
|
|
%% WHAT?! We entered a date and time, and out came a different time?!
|
|
%% I CALL SHENANIGANS!
|
|
|
|
%% Let's add that timezone indicator back in with the conversion to see what
|
|
%% happened:
|
|
|
|
36> qdate:to_string("Y-m-d H:i T","2012-12-21 00:00 PST").
|
|
"2012-12-21 03:00 EST"
|
|
|
|
%% OOOOOOOHHH! I see!
|
|
%% Because we set our current timezone to EST, it took the original provided
|
|
%% date in PST, and converted it to EST (since EST is the timezone we've chosen
|
|
%% for the current process). So it's taking whatever date, and if it can
|
|
%% determine a timezone, it'll extract that timezone, and convert the time from
|
|
%% that timezone to our intended timezone.
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Thanks
|
|
|
|
A few shoutouts to [Dale Harvey](http://github.com/daleharvey) and the
|
|
[Erlware team](https://github.com/erlware) for `dh_date`/`ec_date`, and to
|
|
[Dmitry Melnikov](https://github.com/dmitryme) for the `erlang_localtime`
|
|
package. Without the hard work of all involved in those projects, `qdate` would
|
|
not exist.
|
|
|
|
### Thanks to Additional Contributors
|
|
|
|
+ [Mark Allen](https://github.com/mrallen1)
|
|
+ [Christopher Phillips](https://github.com/lostcolony)
|
|
+ [Nicholas Lundgaard](https://github.com/nlundgaard-al)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Changelog
|
|
|
|
See [CHANGELOG.markdown](https://github.com/choptastic/qdate/blob/master/CHANGELOG.markdown)
|
|
|
|
## TODO
|
|
|
|
+ Make `qdate` backend-agnostic (allow specifying either ec_date or dh_date as
|
|
the backend)
|
|
+ Add `-spec` and `-type` info for dialyzer
|
|
+ Add date and time arithmetic.
|
|
+ Research the viability of [ezic](https://github.com/drfloob/ezic) for a
|
|
timezone backend replacement for `erlang_localtime`.
|
|
|
|
## Conclusion
|
|
|
|
I hope you find `qdate` helpful in all your endeavors and it helps make your
|
|
wildest dreams come true!
|
|
|
|
If you have any bugs, feature requests, or whatnot, feel free to post a Github
|
|
issue, ping me on Twitter, or email me below.
|
|
|
|
I'm open to pull requests. Feel free to get your hands dirty!
|
|
|
|
Author: [Jesse Gumm](http://sigma-star.com/page/jesse)
|
|
|
|
Email: gumm@sigma-star.com
|
|
|
|
Twitter: [@jessegumm](http://twitter.com/jessegumm)
|
|
|
|
Released under the MIT License (see LICENSE file)
|