DateFormat is a set of JavaScript functions that allow you to "feed" DateFormat
a format code and a date object (such as new Date() for the current date or
document.lastModified for the current pages last modified date). DateFormat
then parses the format code with the date object and returns a string representing the date in
the format that was specified.
If you downloaded a version of DateFormat from before January 14, 1999, your version contained a bug and will not work with dates past 1999. You should update it soon with the version found later on this page. This version is now fully Y2K compatible in all tests so far.
This script allows you to try out some DateFormat codes and get an idea of what it can do.
Input a format code (see below) in the first text box. Then
choose whether you want to see the output using the current date (new Date())
or the last modified date of this page (document.lastModified). Press
[Make date] to see the date selected in the format specified by the format code
you entered.
The following table shows the codes you can use in a date format code. Any text found in the format code that does not match something in this table will be displayed normally in the output.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| !m | the month property of the date object as a 1 or 2-digit number |
| !mm | the month of the year as a 2-digit number |
| !d | the date of the month as a 1 or 2-digit number |
| !dd | the date of the month as a 2-digit number |
| !yy | the two-digit abbreviation for the year |
| !yyyy | the year as a four-digit number |
| !Day | the day of the week as an English word |
| !Dy | the day of the week in its short form, such as "Fri" |
| !Month | the month of the year as an English word |
| !Mon | the month of the year in short form such as "Oct" |
Make sure you put the exclamation marks in the proper spot. For example, here are some example outputs using a date some time in January.
| Code | Output (in January) |
|---|---|
| !mm | 01 |
| !m!m | 11 |
| m!m | m1 |
| m!mm | m01 |
If you would like to use DateFormat in a JavaScript script of your own, below is the
code required. To use it in a program, make a call to dateFormat(format,dateobj)
where format is the format code (see above) and
dateobj is a Date object, created by new Date()
or something similar, and it will return a string
representing the date in the format you specified. See
this page
in Netscape's JavaScript Reference for more information on Date objects.
If you use DateFormat I would appreciate if you would register.
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!--
/*
* DateFormat
* Copyright February 13, 1998 by Jordan Hiller
* Returns a date string in many possible formats
* DateFormat may be used for non-commercial purposes
* as long as this comment remains unmodified.
* Tested and works in NN4 and IE3
*/
function dateFormat(format,dateobj){
months = new Array(
"January","February","March","April",
"May","June","July","August","September",
"October","November","December");
mons = new Array(
"Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul",
"Aug", "Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec");
days = new Array(
"Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday",
"Thursday","Friday","Saturday"
);
dys = new Array(
"Sun","Mon","Tues","Wed","Thurs","Fri","Sat");
// Build vars
m = dateobj.getMonth() + 1;
d = dateobj.getDate();
if(dateobj.getYear() > 1900)
yyyy = dateobj.getYear();
else
yyyy = 1900 + dateobj.getYear();
Day = days[dateobj.getDay()];
Dy = dys[dateobj.getDay()];
Month = months[m-1];
Mon = mons[m-1];
if(m.toString().length < 2)
{
mm = "0" + m + "";
}else
{
mm = m;
}
if(d.toString().length < 2)
{
dd = "0" + d + "";
}else
{
dd = d;
}
codes = new Array("Month","Mon","mm","m","Day","Dy","dd","d","yyyy","yy");
lastmstring = format;
replaceOld("!Month",Month);
replaceOld("!Mon",Mon);
replaceOld("!mm",mm);
replaceOld("!m,m);
replaceOld("!Day",Day);
replaceOld("!Dy",Dy);
replaceOld("!dd",dd);
replaceOld("!d",d);
replaceOld("!yyyy",yyyy);
replaceOld("!yy",yy);
return lastmstring;
}
/* Note: the function replaceOld() does not need to be accessed by your script
at all, but the function DateFormat() uses it internally. Make sure you copy it,
but otherwise ignore it. */
function replaceOld(before,after){
indexOfIt = lastmstring.indexOf(before);
if(indexOfIt >= 0)
{
beforeIt = lastmstring.substring(0, indexOfIt);
afterIt = lastmstring.substring(indexOfIt + before.length, lastmstring.length);
lastmstring = beforeIt + after + afterIt;
replaceOld(before,after);
return true;
}
return false;
}
//-->
<SCRIPT>