netDateTime

Overview

netDateTime is a Dyalog namespace of methods that deals with Dates and Time using Microsoft .Net.

Methods using ⎕TS

⎕TS is an APL system constant returning the time as a seven vector element in that order: Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, Second, Millisecond.

      dt ←     TsToDateObject ⎕TS    ⍝ returns a .Net DateTime Object
               TsToDateString ⎕TS    ⍝ returns a character representation of the date
               TsToTimeString ⎕TS    ⍝ returns a character representation of the time
               TsToDayOfWeek  ⎕TS    ⍝ returns the day of week as a number (Sunday = 1)
      oaDate ← TsToOADate     ⎕TS    ⍝ returns the OA Date as a number

Methods using OADates

OA dates is a Microsoft standard used in Office applications.

      dt ← OADateToDateObj    oaDate     ⍝ returns a .Net DateTime Object
           OADateToTs         oaDate     ⍝ returns the equivalent ⎕TS from the supplied OADate
           OADateToDateString oaDate     ⍝ returns a character representation of the date
           OADateToTimeString oaDate     ⍝ returns a character representation of the time

Methods using .Net DateTime object

          DayOfWeek  dt     ⍝ returns the day of week as a number (Sunday = 1)
      'd' FormatDate dt     ⍝ returns a character representation of the DateTime object

Niladic methods

      NowToDateString       ⍝ returns a character representation of the current date
      NowToTimeString       ⍝ returns a character representation of the current time

Altering the character representation of the Date or Time

The character representation of the Date and Time can be altered using a similar scheme used in Excel formatting. The corresponding method just need to be resaved with the desired formatting string to obtain the desired result. Here is some possibility that can be used for formatting:

Format specifier	Description
d	The day of the month, from 1 through 31
dd	The day of the month, from 01 through 31
ddd	The abbreviated name of the day of the week
dddd	The full name of the day of the week
h	The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 1 to 12
hh	The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 01 to 12
H	The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 0 to 23
HH	The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 00 to 23
m	The minute, from 0 through 59
mm	The minute, from 00 through 59
M	The month, from 1 through 12
MM	The month, from 01 through 12
MMM	The abbreviated name of the month
MMMM	The full name of the month
s	The second, from 0 through 59
ss	The second, from 00 through 59
t	The first character of the AM/PM designator
tt	The AM/PM designator
y	The year, from 0 to 99
yy	The year, from 00 to 99
yyy	The year, with a minimum of three digits
yyyy	The year as a four-digit number
yyyyy	The year as a five-digit number

The following single letter can be used also:

Format specifier	Description	Pattern value
t	ShortTimePattern	h:mm tt
d	ShortDatePattern	M/d/yyyy
T	LongTimePattern	h:mm:ss tt
D	LongDatePattern	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy
f	(combination of D and t)	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm tt
F	FullDateTimePattern	dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm:ss tt
g	(combination of d and t)	M/d/yyyy h:mm tt
G	(combination of d and T)	M/d/yyyy h:mm:ss tt

How to install netDateTime in your workspace

Download netDateTime.v1.0.txt
Do a Select all (Ctrl+A) and a copy (Ctrl+C).
In your workspace execute )ed ⍟ netDateTime
Paste (Ctrl+V) the text into the Dyalog editor
Press Escape and ')save' your workspace

Optionally to de-script the namespace you can do:

#.netDateTime←{('n' ⎕NS ⍵)⊢n←⎕NS ''}#.netDateTime

Version Information

Original author:	Pierre Gilbert
Responsible:	PierreGilbert
Email:	`<apgil AT SPAMFREE videotron DOT ca>`