DateTool (Velocity Tools 1.2 Documentation)

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org.apache.velocity.tools.generic
Class DateTool

java.lang.Object
  org.apache.velocity.tools.generic.DateTool

public class DateTool
extends java.lang.Object

Tool for working with Date and Calendar in Velocity templates. It is useful for accessing and formatting the "current" date as well as for formatting arbitrary Date and Calendar objects. Also the tool can be used to retrieve DateFormat instances or make conversions to and from various date types.

 Example uses:
  $date                         -> Oct 19, 2003 9:54:50 PM
  $date.long                    -> October 19, 2003 9:54:50 PM PDT
  $date.medium_time             -> 9:54:50 PM
  $date.full_date               -> Sunday, October 19, 2003
  $date.get('default','short')  -> Oct 19, 2003 9:54 PM
  $date.get('yyyy-M-d H:m:s')   -> 2003-10-19 21:54:50
 
  $myDate                        -> Tue Oct 07 03:14:50 PDT 2003
  $date.format('medium',$myDate) -> Oct 7, 2003 3:14:50 AM 

 Example toolbox.xml config (if you want to use this with VelocityView):
 <tool>
   <key>date</key>
   <scope>application</scope>
   <class>org.apache.velocity.tools.generic.DateTool</class>
 </tool>

This tool is entirely threadsafe, and has no instance members. It may be used in any scope (request, session, or application). As such, the methods are highly interconnected, and overriding key methods provides an easy way to create subclasses that use a non-default format, calendar, locale, or timezone.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.0
Version:: $Revision: 154105 $ $Date: 2005-02-16 16:56:54 -0800 (Wed, 16 Feb 2005) $
Author:: Nathan Bubna

Field Summary
`static java.lang.String`	`DEFAULT_FORMAT` The default format to be used when none is specified.

Constructor Summary
`DateTool()` Default constructor.

Method Summary
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.Object obj)` Converts the specified object to a date and formats it according to the pattern or style returned by `getFormat()`.
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.String format, java.lang.Object obj)` Converts the specified object to a date and returns a formatted string representing that date in the locale returned by `getLocale()`.
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.String format, java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale)` Converts the specified object to a date and returns a formatted string representing that date in the specified `Locale`.
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.String format, java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale, java.util.TimeZone timezone)` Returns a formatted string representing the specified date, `Locale`, and `TimeZone`.
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.String dateStyle, java.lang.String timeStyle, java.lang.Object obj)` Returns the specified date as a string formatted according to the specified date and/or time styles.
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.String dateStyle, java.lang.String timeStyle, java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale)` Returns the specified date as a string formatted according to the specified `Locale` and date and/or time styles.
`java.lang.String`	`format(java.lang.String dateStyle, java.lang.String timeStyle, java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale, java.util.TimeZone timezone)` Returns the specified date as a string formatted according to the specified `Locale` and date and/or time styles.
`java.lang.String`	`get(java.lang.String format)` Returns a formatted string representing the date returned by `getDate()`.
`java.lang.String`	`get(java.lang.String dateStyle, java.lang.String timeStyle)` Returns a formatted string representing the date and/or time given by `getDate()` in standard, localized patterns.
`java.util.Calendar`	`getCalendar()` Returns a `Calendar` instance created using the timezone and locale returned by getTimeZone() and getLocale().
`java.util.Date`	`getDate()` Returns a `Date` derived from the result of `getCalendar()`
`protected java.text.DateFormat`	`getDateFormat(int dateStyle, int timeStyle, java.util.Locale locale, java.util.TimeZone timezone)` Returns a `DateFormat` instance for the specified time style, date style, `Locale`, and `TimeZone`.
`java.text.DateFormat`	`getDateFormat(java.lang.String format, java.util.Locale locale, java.util.TimeZone timezone)` Returns a `DateFormat` instance for the specified format, `Locale`, and `TimeZone`.
`java.text.DateFormat`	`getDateFormat(java.lang.String dateStyle, java.lang.String timeStyle, java.util.Locale locale, java.util.TimeZone timezone)` Returns a `DateFormat` instance for the specified date style, time style, `Locale`, and `TimeZone`.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getDay()` Returns the day (of the month) value of the date returned by `getCalendar()`.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getDay(java.lang.Object date)` Returns the day (of the month) value for the specified date.
`java.lang.String`	`getFormat()` Return the pattern or style to be used for formatting dates when none is specified.
`java.util.Locale`	`getLocale()` This implementation returns the default locale.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getMonth()` Returns the month value of the date returned by `getCalendar()`.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getMonth(java.lang.Object date)` Returns the month value of the specified date.
`protected int`	`getStyleAsInt(java.lang.String style)` Checks a string to see if it matches one of the standard DateFormat style patterns: FULL, LONG, MEDIUM, SHORT, or DEFAULT.
`static java.util.Calendar`	`getSystemCalendar()`
`static java.util.Date`	`getSystemDate()`
`java.util.TimeZone`	`getTimeZone()` This implementation returns the default TimeZone.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getValue(int field, java.lang.Object date)` Returns the specified value of the specified date, or null if the field or date is invalid.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getValue(java.lang.Object field)` Return the specified value of the date returned by `getCalendar()` or null if the field is invalid.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getValue(java.lang.Object field, java.lang.Object date)` Returns the specified value of the specified date, or null if the field or date is invalid.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getYear()` Returns the year value of the date returned by `getCalendar()`.
`java.lang.Integer`	`getYear(java.lang.Object date)` Returns the year value of the specified date.
`java.util.Calendar`	`toCalendar(java.lang.Object obj)` Converts an object to an instance of `Calendar` using the locale returned by `getLocale()` if necessary.
`java.util.Calendar`	`toCalendar(java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale)` Converts an object to an instance of `Calendar` using the locale returned by `getLocale()` if necessary.
`java.util.Date`	`toDate(java.lang.Object obj)` Converts an object to an instance of `Date` using the format returned by `getFormat()`,the `Locale` returned by `getLocale()`, and the `TimeZone` returned by `getTimeZone()` if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.
`java.util.Date`	`toDate(java.lang.String format, java.lang.Object obj)` Converts an object to an instance of `Date` using the specified format,the `Locale` returned by `getLocale()`, and the `TimeZone` returned by `getTimeZone()` if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.
`java.util.Date`	`toDate(java.lang.String format, java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale)` Converts an object to an instance of `Date` using the specified format and `Locale` if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.
`java.util.Date`	`toDate(java.lang.String format, java.lang.Object obj, java.util.Locale locale, java.util.TimeZone timezone)` Converts an object to an instance of `Date` using the specified format, `Locale`, and `TimeZone` if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.
`java.lang.String`	`toString()`

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

DEFAULT_FORMAT

public static final java.lang.String DEFAULT_FORMAT

The default format to be used when none is specified.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

DateTool

public DateTool()

Default constructor.

Method Detail

getSystemDate

public static final java.util.Date getSystemDate()

Returns:: the system's current time as a Date

getSystemCalendar

public static final java.util.Calendar getSystemCalendar()

Returns:: the system's current time as a Calendar

getLocale

public java.util.Locale getLocale()

This implementation returns the default locale. Subclasses may override this to return alternate locales. Please note that doing so will affect all formatting methods where no locale is specified in the parameters.

Returns:: the default Locale

getTimeZone

public java.util.TimeZone getTimeZone()

This implementation returns the default TimeZone. Subclasses may override this to return alternate timezones. Please note that doing so will affect all formatting methods where no timezone is specified in the parameters.

Returns:: the default TimeZone

getDate

public java.util.Date getDate()

Returns a Date derived from the result of getCalendar()

Returns:: a Date derived from the result of getCalendar()

getCalendar

public java.util.Calendar getCalendar()

Returns a Calendar instance created using the timezone and locale returned by getTimeZone() and getLocale(). This allows subclasses to easily override the default locale and timezone used by this tool.

Sub-classes may override this method to return a Calendar instance not based on the system date. Doing so will also cause the getDate(), get(String), get(String,String), and toString() methods to return dates equivalent to the Calendar returned by this method, because those methods return values derived from the result of this method.

Returns:: a Calendar instance created using the results of getTimeZone() and getLocale().
See Also:: Calendar.getInstance(TimeZone zone, Locale aLocale)

getFormat

public java.lang.String getFormat()

Return the pattern or style to be used for formatting dates when none is specified. This implementation gives a 'default' date-time format. Subclasses may override this to provide a different default format.

NOTE: At some point in the future it may be feasible to configure this value via the toolbox definition, but at present, it is not possible to specify custom tool configurations there. For now you should just override this in a subclass to have a different default.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.1

getYear

public java.lang.Integer getYear()

Returns the year value of the date returned by getCalendar().

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getYear

public java.lang.Integer getYear(java.lang.Object date)

Returns the year value of the specified date.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getMonth

public java.lang.Integer getMonth()

Returns the month value of the date returned by getCalendar().

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getMonth

public java.lang.Integer getMonth(java.lang.Object date)

Returns the month value of the specified date.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getDay

public java.lang.Integer getDay()

Returns the day (of the month) value of the date returned by getCalendar().

NOTE: Unlike java.util.Date, this returns the day of the month. It is equivalent to Date.getDate() and Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH). We could not call this method getDate() because that already exists in this class with a different function.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getDay

public java.lang.Integer getDay(java.lang.Object date)

Returns the day (of the month) value for the specified date.

NOTE: Unlike java.util.Date, this returns the day of the month. It is equivalent to Date.getDate() and Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH). We could not call this method getDate() because that already exists in this class with a different function.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getValue

public java.lang.Integer getValue(java.lang.Object field)

Return the specified value of the date returned by getCalendar() or null if the field is invalid.

Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getValue

public java.lang.Integer getValue(java.lang.Object field,
                                  java.lang.Object date)

Returns the specified value of the specified date, or null if the field or date is invalid. The field may be an Integer or it may be the name of the field as a String.

Parameters:: field - the corresponding Integer value or String name of the desired value; date - the date/calendar from which the field value will be taken
Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

getValue

public java.lang.Integer getValue(int field,
                                  java.lang.Object date)

Returns the specified value of the specified date, or null if the field or date is invalid.

Parameters:: field - the int for the desired field (e.g. Calendar.MONTH); date - the date/calendar from which the field value will be taken
Since:: VelocityTools 1.2

get

public java.lang.String get(java.lang.String format)

Returns a formatted string representing the date returned by getDate(). In its default implementation, this method allows you to retrieve the current date in standard formats by simply doing things like $date.medium or $date.full. If you want only the date or time portion you can specify that along with the standard formats. (e.g. $date.medium_date or $date.short_time) More complex or custom formats can be retrieved by using the full method syntax. (e.g. $date.get('E, MMMM d'))

Parameters:: format - the formatting instructions
Returns:: a formatted representation of the date returned by getDate()
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: format(String format, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

get

public java.lang.String get(java.lang.String dateStyle,
                            java.lang.String timeStyle)

Returns a formatted string representing the date and/or time given by getDate() in standard, localized patterns.

Parameters:: dateStyle - the style pattern for the date; timeStyle - the style pattern for the time
Returns:: a formatted representation of the date returned by getDate()
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: DateFormat, format(String dateStyle, String timeStyle, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.Object obj)

Converts the specified object to a date and formats it according to the pattern or style returned by getFormat().

Parameters:: obj - the date object to be formatted
Returns:: the specified date formatted as a string
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: format(String format, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.String format,
                               java.lang.Object obj)

Converts the specified object to a date and returns a formatted string representing that date in the locale returned by getLocale().

Parameters:: format - the formatting instructions; obj - the date object to be formatted
Returns:: a formatted string for this locale representing the specified date or null if the parameters are invalid
See Also:: format(String format, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.String format,
                               java.lang.Object obj,
                               java.util.Locale locale)

Converts the specified object to a date and returns a formatted string representing that date in the specified Locale.

Parameters:: format - the formatting instructions; obj - the date object to be formatted; locale - the locale to be used when formatting
Returns:: the given date as a formatted string
See Also:: format(String format, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.String format,
                               java.lang.Object obj,
                               java.util.Locale locale,
                               java.util.TimeZone timezone)

Returns a formatted string representing the specified date, Locale, and TimeZone.

The specified format may be a standard style pattern ('full', 'long', 'medium', 'short', or 'default').

You may also specify that you want only the date or time portion be appending '_date' or '_time' respectively to the standard style pattern. (e.g. 'full_date' or 'long_time')

If the format fits neither of these patterns, then the output will be formatted according to the symbols defined by SimpleDateFormat:

   Symbol   Meaning                 Presentation        Example
   ------   -------                 ------------        -------
   G        era designator          (Text)              AD
   y        year                    (Number)            1996
   M        month in year           (Text & Number)     July & 07
   d        day in month            (Number)            10
   h        hour in am/pm (1~12)    (Number)            12
   H        hour in day (0~23)      (Number)            0
   m        minute in hour          (Number)            30
   s        second in minute        (Number)            55
   S        millisecond             (Number)            978
   E        day in week             (Text)              Tuesday
   D        day in year             (Number)            189
   F        day of week in month    (Number)            2 (2nd Wed in July)
   w        week in year            (Number)            27
   W        week in month           (Number)            2
   a        am/pm marker            (Text)              PM
   k        hour in day (1~24)      (Number)            24
   K        hour in am/pm (0~11)    (Number)            0
   z        time zone               (Text)              Pacific Standard Time
   '        escape for text         (Delimiter)
   ''       single quote            (Literal)           '

   Examples: "E, MMMM d" will result in "Tue, July 24"
             "EEE, M-d (H:m)" will result in "Tuesday, 7-24 (14:12)"

Parameters:: format - the custom or standard pattern to be used; obj - the date to format; locale - the Locale to format the date for; timezone - the TimeZone to be used when formatting
Returns:: a formatted string representing the specified date or null if the parameters are invalid
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.String dateStyle,
                               java.lang.String timeStyle,
                               java.lang.Object obj)

Returns the specified date as a string formatted according to the specified date and/or time styles.

Parameters:: dateStyle - the style pattern for the date; timeStyle - the style pattern for the time; obj - the date to be formatted
Returns:: a formatted representation of the given date
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: format(String dateStyle, String timeStyle, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.String dateStyle,
                               java.lang.String timeStyle,
                               java.lang.Object obj,
                               java.util.Locale locale)

Returns the specified date as a string formatted according to the specified Locale and date and/or time styles.

Parameters:: dateStyle - the style pattern for the date; timeStyle - the style pattern for the time; obj - the date to be formatted; locale - the Locale to be used for formatting the date
Returns:: a formatted representation of the given date
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: format(String dateStyle, String timeStyle, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

format

public java.lang.String format(java.lang.String dateStyle,
                               java.lang.String timeStyle,
                               java.lang.Object obj,
                               java.util.Locale locale,
                               java.util.TimeZone timezone)

Returns the specified date as a string formatted according to the specified Locale and date and/or time styles.

Parameters:: dateStyle - the style pattern for the date; timeStyle - the style pattern for the time; obj - the date to be formatted; locale - the Locale to be used for formatting the date; timezone - the TimeZone the date should be formatted for
Returns:: a formatted representation of the given date
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: DateFormat, format(String dateStyle, String timeStyle, Object obj, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

getDateFormat

public java.text.DateFormat getDateFormat(java.lang.String format,
                                          java.util.Locale locale,
                                          java.util.TimeZone timezone)

Returns a DateFormat instance for the specified format, Locale, and TimeZone. If the format specified is a standard style pattern, then a date-time instance will be returned with both the date and time styles set to the specified style. If it is a custom format, then a customized SimpleDateFormat will be returned.

Parameters:: format - the custom or standard formatting pattern to be used; locale - the Locale to be used; timezone - the TimeZone to be used
Returns:: an instance of DateFormat
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: SimpleDateFormat, DateFormat

getDateFormat

public java.text.DateFormat getDateFormat(java.lang.String dateStyle,
                                          java.lang.String timeStyle,
                                          java.util.Locale locale,
                                          java.util.TimeZone timezone)

Returns a DateFormat instance for the specified date style, time style, Locale, and TimeZone.

Parameters:: dateStyle - the date style; timeStyle - the time style; locale - the Locale to be used; timezone - the TimeZone to be used
Returns:: an instance of DateFormat
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: getDateFormat(int timeStyle, int dateStyle, Locale locale, TimeZone timezone)

getDateFormat

protected java.text.DateFormat getDateFormat(int dateStyle,
                                             int timeStyle,
                                             java.util.Locale locale,
                                             java.util.TimeZone timezone)

Returns a DateFormat instance for the specified time style, date style, Locale, and TimeZone.

Parameters:: dateStyle - the date style (date will be ignored if this is less than zero and the date style is not); timeStyle - the time style (time will be ignored if this is less than zero and the date style is not); locale - the Locale to be used; timezone - the TimeZone to be used
Returns:: an instance of DateFormat or null if an instance cannot be constructed with the given parameters
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1

getStyleAsInt

protected int getStyleAsInt(java.lang.String style)

Checks a string to see if it matches one of the standard DateFormat style patterns: FULL, LONG, MEDIUM, SHORT, or DEFAULT. If it does, it will return the integer constant for that pattern. If not, it will return -1.

Parameters:: style - the string to be checked
Returns:: the int identifying the style pattern
Since:: VelocityTools 1.1
See Also:: DateFormat

toDate

public java.util.Date toDate(java.lang.Object obj)

Converts an object to an instance of Date using the format returned by getFormat(),the Locale returned by getLocale(), and the TimeZone returned by getTimeZone() if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.

Parameters:: obj - the date to convert
Returns:: the object as a Date or null if no conversion is possible

toDate

public java.util.Date toDate(java.lang.String format,
                             java.lang.Object obj)

Converts an object to an instance of Date using the specified format,the Locale returned by getLocale(), and the TimeZone returned by getTimeZone() if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.

Parameters:: format - - the format the date is in; obj - - the date to convert
Returns:: the object as a Date or null if no conversion is possible
See Also:: toDate(String format, Object obj, Locale locale)

toDate

public java.util.Date toDate(java.lang.String format,
                             java.lang.Object obj,
                             java.util.Locale locale)

Converts an object to an instance of Date using the specified format and Locale if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.

Parameters:: format - - the format the date is in; obj - - the date to convert; locale - - the Locale
Returns:: the object as a Date or null if no conversion is possible
See Also:: SimpleDateFormat.parse(java.lang.String, java.text.ParsePosition)

toDate

public java.util.Date toDate(java.lang.String format,
                             java.lang.Object obj,
                             java.util.Locale locale,
                             java.util.TimeZone timezone)

Converts an object to an instance of Date using the specified format, Locale, and TimeZone if the object is not already an instance of Date, Calendar, or Long.

Parameters:: format - - the format the date is in; obj - - the date to convert; locale - - the Locale; timezone - - the TimeZone
Returns:: the object as a Date or null if no conversion is possible
See Also:: getDateFormat(java.lang.String, java.util.Locale, java.util.TimeZone), SimpleDateFormat.parse(java.lang.String, java.text.ParsePosition)

toCalendar

public java.util.Calendar toCalendar(java.lang.Object obj)

Converts an object to an instance of Calendar using the locale returned by getLocale() if necessary.

Parameters:: obj - the date to convert
Returns:: the converted date
See Also:: toCalendar(Object obj, Locale locale)

toCalendar

public java.util.Calendar toCalendar(java.lang.Object obj,
                                     java.util.Locale locale)

Converts an object to an instance of Calendar using the locale returned by getLocale() if necessary.

Parameters:: obj - the date to convert; locale - the locale used
Returns:: the converted date
See Also:: toDate(String format, Object obj, Locale locale), Calendar

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Returns:: the result of getDate() formatted according to the result of getFormat().
See Also:: format(String format, Object obj)

Overview

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Help

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org.apache.velocity.tools.generic Class DateTool

DEFAULT_FORMAT

DateTool

getSystemDate

getSystemCalendar

getLocale

getTimeZone

getDate

getCalendar

getFormat

getYear

getYear

getMonth

getMonth

getDay

getDay

getValue

getValue

getValue

get

get

format

format

format

format

format

format

format

getDateFormat

getDateFormat

getDateFormat

getStyleAsInt

toDate

toDate

toDate

toDate

toCalendar

toCalendar

toString

org.apache.velocity.tools.generic
Class DateTool