# Topic `05-dates.md`

## Date and Time

### Manipulating Dates

The `Date` class provides a simplified way to work with [date and time](http://www.lua.org/pil/22.1.html) in Lua; it leans heavily on the functions `os.date` and `os.time`.

A `Date` object can be constructed from a table, just like with `os.time`. Methods are provided to get and set the various parts of the date.

> d = Date {year = 2011, month = 3, day = 2 } > = d 2011-03-02 12:00:00 > = d:month(),d:year(),d:day() 3 2011 2 > d:month(4) > = d 2011-04-02 12:00:00 > d:add {day=1} > = d 2011-04-03 12:00:00

`add` takes a table containing one of the date table fields.

> = d:weekday_name() Sun > = d:last_day() 2011-04-30 12:00:00 > = d:month_name(true) April

There is a default conversion to text for date objects, but `Date.Format` gives you full control of the format for both parsing and displaying dates:

> iso = Date.Format 'yyyy-mm-dd' > d = iso:parse '2010-04-10' > amer = Date.Format 'mm/dd/yyyy' > = amer:tostring(d) 04/10/2010

With the 0.9.7 relase, the `Date` constructor has become more flexible. You may omit any of the 'year', 'month' or 'day' fields:

> = Date { year = 2008 } 2008-01-01 12:00:00 > = Date { month = 3 } 2011-03-01 12:00:00 > = Date { day = 20 } 2011-10-20 12:00:00 > = Date { hour = 14, min = 30 } 2011-10-13 14:30:00

If 'year' is omitted, then the current year is assumed, and likewise for 'month'.

To set the time on such a partial date, you can use the fact that the 'setter' methods return the date object and so you can 'chain' these methods.

> d = Date { day = 03 } > = d:hour(18):min(30) 2011-10-03 18:30:00

Finally, `Date` also now accepts positional arguments:

> = Date(2011,10,3) 2011-10-03 12:00:00 > = Date(2011,10,3,18,30,23) 2011-10-03 18:30:23

`Date.format` has been extended. If you construct an instance without a pattern, then it will try to match against a set of known formats. This is useful for human-input dates since keeping to a strict format is not one of the strong points of users. It assumes that there will be a date, and then a date.

> df = Date.Format() > = df:parse '5.30pm' 2011-10-13 17:30:00 > = df:parse '1730' nil day out of range: 1730 is not between 1 and 31 > = df:parse '17.30' 2011-10-13 17:30:00 > = df:parse 'mar' 2011-03-01 12:00:00 > = df:parse '3 March' 2011-03-03 12:00:00 > = df:parse '15 March' 2011-03-15 12:00:00 > = df:parse '15 March 2008' 2008-03-15 12:00:00 > = df:parse '15 March 2008 1.30pm' 2008-03-15 13:30:00 > = df:parse '2008-10-03 15:30:23' 2008-10-03 15:30:23

ISO date format is of course a good idea if you need to deal with users from different countries. Here is the default behaviour for 'short' dates:

> = df:parse '24/02/12' 2012-02-24 12:00:00

That's not what Americans expect! It's tricky to work out in a cross-platform way exactly what the expected format is, so there is an explicit flag:

> df:US_order(true) > = df:parse '9/11/01' 2001-11-09 12:00:00

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