Formatting Time in Javascript

Formatting Time in Javascript

Here's a few quick ways to format time, and then a long script for you to copy and paste.

This is a little different than most of the iLTC site. The emphasis on this article is the end result for you to use, not the learning process. If you learn anything, hey, that's a bonus!

The first two bits have links to their original articles. Skip what you don't want :)

Epoch time in milliseconds (ko and ji are my made up variable names):
ko = new Date();
ji = ko.getTime();
document.write(ji);

Prints: 1141630966899

Formatted time (hu is my made up variable name):
hu = new Date();
document.write(hu);

Prints (Mac Firefox): Mon Mar 06 2006 02:42:46 GMT-0500 (EST)
Prints (Windows IE): Mon Mar 6 02:42:46 EST 2006

Time to get fancy (or jump to the copy and paste section :)
-----

GETTING THE DATE INTO CHUNKS:
(we'll set time ahead and make cookie time with chunks)

// get current date with built-in Date() method
var hu = new Date();

// convert to epoch and add a year in milliseconds with built-in getTime() method
var ji = (hu.getTime() + (60 * 60 * 24 * 365 * 1000));

// run new epoch back through built-in Date() method
var ko = new Date(ji);

// get pieces of date with built-in Date and Time methods
var m=ko.getMonth();
var d=ko.getDate();
var y=ko.getYear();
var w=ko.getDay();
var hour=ko.getHours();
var min=ko.getMinutes();
var sec=ko.getSeconds();

// convert returned month number to text
if (m == 0) { m="Jan"; }
else if (m == 1) { m="Feb"; }
else if (m == 2) { m="Mar"; }
else if (m == 3) { m="Apr"; }
else if (m == 4) { m="May"; }
else if (m == 5) { m="Jun"; }
else if (m == 6) { m="Jul"; }
else if (m == 7) { m="Aug"; }
else if (m == 8) { m="Sep"; }
else if (m == 9) { m="Oct"; }
else if (m == 10) { m="Nov"; }
else { m="Dec"; }

// convert numbers to strings
d = d + "";
hour = hour + "";
min = min + "";
sec = sec + "";
y = y + "";

// add zeros to front of single digit variables.
if (d.match(/^\d$/)) {
d = "0" + d;
}
if (hour.match(/^\d$/)) {
hour = "0" + hour;
}
if (min.match(/^\d$/)) {
min = "0" + min;
}
if (sec.match(/^\d$/)) {
sec = "0" + sec;
}

// adds 1900 to returned year if needed
if (y.match(/^\d\d\d$/)) {
// convert string back to number
y = parseFloat(y);
y = y + 1900;
}

// convert returned day number to text
if (w == 0) { w="Sun"; }
else if (w == 1) { w="Mon"; }
else if (w == 2) { w="Tue"; }
else if (w == 3) { w="Wed"; }
else if (w == 4) { w="Thu"; }
else if (w == 5) { w="Fri"; }
else { w="Sat"; }

// stores all the variables above in cookie format into var cooktime
var cooktime = (w + ", " + d + "-" + m + "-" + y + " " + hour + ":" + min + ":" + sec + " GMT");

// prints our pretty cookie time to the browser
document.write(cooktime);

NOTE: Our time is not really GMT (unless the user is in GMT). It's actually offset the number of hours the user is from GMT. I added the GMT to make the cookie gods happy.

Free Copy and Paste Javascript Code:

<script type="text/javascript">

</script>
<br>
Mon, 18-Feb-2036 05:43:38 GMT

Resources:
Getting Epoch Time in Javascript
Get Formatted Time in Javascript
Splitting an Array using Javascript
Setting a Cookie using Javascript

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