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Date.parse

Date.parsetextformat

Group: Conversions
Aliases: date from text

Documentation​

Converts text containing a date into a Date object.

Returns a Time_Error if the provided text cannot be parsed using the provided format.

Arguments​

  • text: The text to try and parse as a date.
  • format: A pattern describing how to parse the text, or a Date_Time_Formatter.

Examples​

Parse the date of 23rd December 2020.​

      from Standard.Base import Date

      example_parse = Date.parse "2020-12-23"

Recover from an error due to a wrong format.​

      from Standard.Base import Date
      from Standard.Base.Errors.Common import Time_Error

      example_parse_err = Date.parse "my birthday" . catch Time_Error _->
          Date.new 2000 1 1

Parse "1999-1-1" as Date using a custom format.​

      from Standard.Base import Date

      example_parse = Date.parse "1999-1-1" "yyyy-M-d"

Recover from the parse error.​

      from Standard.Base import Date
      from Standard.Base.Errors.Common import Time_Error

      example_parse_err =
          date = Date.parse "1999-1-1" "yyyy-MM-dd"
          date.catch Time_Error (_->Date.new 2000 1 1)

Remarks​

Default Date Formatting​

Unless you provide a custom format, the text must represent a valid date that can be parsed using the ISO-8601 extended local date format. The format consists of:

  • Four digits or more for the year. Years in the range 0000 to 9999 will be pre-padded by zero to ensure four digits. Years outside that range will have a prefixed positive or negative symbol.
  • A dash
  • Two digits for the month-of-year. This is pre-padded by zero to ensure two digits.
  • A dash
  • Two digits for the day-of-month. This is pre-padded by zero to ensure two digits.

Pattern Syntax​

If the pattern is provided as Text, it is parsed using the format described below. See Date_Time_Formatter for more options.

  • y: Year. The number of pattern letters determines the minimum number of digits.
    • y: The year using any number of digits.
    • yy: The year, using at most two digits. The default range is 1950-2049, but this can be changed by including the end year in braces e.g. yy{2099}.
    • yyyy: The year, using exactly four digits.
  • M: Month of year. The number of pattern letters determines the format:
    • M: Any number (1-12).
    • MM: Month number with zero padding required (01-12).
    • MMM: Short name of the month (Jan-Dec).
    • MMMM: Full name of the month (January-December). The month names depend on the selected locale.
  • d: Day. The number of pattern letters determines the format:
    • d: Any number (1-31).
    • dd: Day number with zero padding required (01-31).
    • ddd: Short name of the day of week (Mon-Sun).
    • dddd: Full name of the day of week (Monday-Sunday). The weekday names depend on the selected locale. Both day of week and day of month may be included in a single pattern - in such case the day of week is used as a sanity check.
  • Q: Quarter of year. If only year and quarter are provided in the pattern, when parsing a date, the result will be the first day of that quarter.