BiDateFormat

This class is used to format and parse dates. It is based on the Java class SimpleDateFormat.

This class extends BiObject and therefore all methods and fields available for BiObject are also available for BiDateFormat .

Constructor

new BiDateFormat ( sPattern,sLanguage )

Parameters

Name	Type	Optional	Default	Descripton
sPattern	String			A pattern describing the date format.
sLanguage	String			Optional string describing the locale

Properties

Name	Type	get	set	Descripton
dateFormatSymbols	BiDateFormatSymbols			The date format symbols used to define how to parse and format strings and dates
lenient	Boolean			When this is true parsing will try to parse the string even though it does not correctly match the given pattern. For example it will try to use the Javascript Date parse method.
localizedPattern	String			The pattern using localized pattern characters
pattern	String			The pattern to use when formatting and parsing

Methods

Name	Description
format	This takes a date object and outputs a string formatted according to the provided pattern
parse	This takes a string describing the date and uses the current pattern to parse it to javascript date object. If lenient is true this will also try to parse the string even if it does not match the pattern. If this fails an exception will be thrown.

Events

None.

Static Methods

Name	Description
getDateInstance	Creates a new BiDateFormat object that uses a date pattern.
getDateTimeInstance	Creates a new BiDateFormat object that uses a date time pattern.
getTimeInstance	Creates a new BiDateFormat object that uses a time pattern.

Static Fields

Name	Type	Descripton
LONG	String	Constant for long date format pattern
MEDIUM	String	Constant for medium date format pattern
SHORT	String	Constant for short date format pattern

Remarks

Some limitations compared to the java class apply. For example where Java uses a Locale class Bindows uses a string. The formatting and parsing of the timezone are limited to the formats GMT+/-HHmm ('z') or +/-HHmm ('Z'). 'w' (week in year), 'W' (week in month) and 'D' (day in year) are not supported.

Method Details

format

This takes a date object and outputs a string formatted according to the provided pattern

Syntax

object.format ( oDate )

Parameters

Name	Type	Optional	Default	Descripton
oDate	Date			The date to format

Return Type

String

parse

This takes a string describing the date and uses the current pattern to parse it to javascript date object. If lenient is true this will also try to parse the string even if it does not match the pattern.

If this fails an exception will be thrown.

Syntax

object.parse ( sDate )

Parameters

Name	Type	Optional	Default	Descripton
sDate	String			The string describing the date

Return Type

Date

Static Method Details

getDateInstance

Creates a new BiDateFormat object that uses a date pattern.

Syntax

BiDateFormat . getDateInstance ( sType,sLanguage )

Parameters

Name	Type	Optional	Default	Descripton
sType	String			Whether to use a short, medium or long date pattern
sLanguage	String			Optional string identifying the locale.

Return Type

BiDateFormat

getDateTimeInstance

Creates a new BiDateFormat object that uses a date time pattern.

Syntax

BiDateFormat . getDateTimeInstance ( sType,sLanguage )

Parameters

Name	Type	Optional	Default	Descripton
sType	String			Whether to use a short, medium or long date time pattern
sLanguage	String			Optional string identifying the locale.

Return Type

BiDateFormat

getTimeInstance

Creates a new BiDateFormat object that uses a time pattern.

Syntax

BiDateFormat . getTimeInstance ( sType,sLanguage )

Parameters

Name	Type	Optional	Default	Descripton
sType	String			Whether to use a short, medium or long time pattern
sLanguage	String			Optional string identifying the locale.

Return Type

BiDateFormat