Date.strftime

Library

date.js

Syntax

dt.strftime(format); (where dt is a JavaScript Date object)

Date.strftime(format, timestamp);

Parameters

format A string indicating how the date is to be formatted.

timestamp A Unix timestamp of the date to be formatted.

Description

Returns a string formatted according to the given format string. Accepts either a JavaScript Date object, or a Unix-style timestamp.

This is a very basic implementation that only uses English-language formatting, but it is set up to make it relatively easy to add your own localized language.

Formatting

The format string may include the following specifiers:

%a -- Abbreviated weekday name (ex. Thu)
%A -- Full weekday name (ex. Thursday)
%b -- Abbreviated month name (ex. Nov)
%B -- Full month name (ex. November)
%c -- Appropriate date and time representation (ex. Thu Nov 03 13:10:35 2005)
%C -- Century number (the year divided by 100 and truncated to an integer, range 00 to 99), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 20)
%d -- Day of month (range 01 to 31), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 03)
%D -- Date as %m/%d/%y (ex. 11/03/05)
%e -- Day of the month as a decimal number (range ' 1' to '31') -- a single digit is preceded by a space (ex. ' 3')
%h -- Same as %b (ex. Nov)
%H -- Hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range 00 to 23), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 13)
%I -- Hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range 01 to 12), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 01)
%j -- Day of the year as a decimal number (range 001 to 366) -- zero-padded to three digits (ex. 307)
%k -- Hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock (range ' 0' to '23'), single digits are preceded by a space (ex. '13')
%l -- Hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock (range ' 1' to '12'), single digits are preceded by a space (ex. ' 1')
%m -- Month as a decimal number (range 01 to 12), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 11)
%M -- Minute as a decimal number (range 00 to 59), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 10)
%p -- Either 'AM' or 'PM' according to the given time value (ex. PM)
%r -- Appropriate time representation in 12-hour clock format with %p (ex. 01:10:35 PM)
%R -- Time as %H:%M (ex. 13:10)
%S -- Second as a decimal number (range 00 to 59), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 35)
%T -- Time as %H:%M:%S (ex. 13:10:35)
%u -- Weekday as a decimal number (range 1 to 7), with 1 representing Monday (ex. 4)
%w -- Weekday as a decimal number (range 0 to 6), with 0 representing Sunday (ex. 4)
%x -- Appropriate date representation without the time (ex. 11/03/05)
%X -- Appropriate time representation without the date (ex. 01:10:35)
%y -- Year as a decimal number without a century (range 00 to 99), single digits are preceded by zero (ex. 05)
%Y -- Year as a decimal number including the century (ex. 2005)
%% -- A literal percent character (ex. %)

Examples

The example below will return a string that says "My birthdate was Friday, December 27, 1968."

var bd = new Date('12/27/1968');
return bd.strftime('My birthdate was %A, %B %e, %Y.');

You can also use it with a Unix timestamp, as a static method of Date, by passing the timestamp as a second param. The example below will return a string that says "I found a guitar in October of 2112."

var dt = new Date('10/01/2112');
var stamp = dt.getTime();
return Date.strftime('I found a guitar in %B of %Y.', stamp);