How would I convert an NSString like "01/02/10" (meaning 1st February 2010) into an NSDate? And how could I turn the NSDate back into a string?
230
votes
17 Answers
454
votes
Swift 4 and later
Updated: 2018
String to Date
var dateString = "02-03-2017"
var dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
// This is important - we set our input date format to match our input string
// if the format doesn't match you'll get nil from your string, so be careful
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
//`date(from:)` returns an optional so make sure you unwrap when using.
var dateFromString: Date? = dateFormatter.date(from: dateString)
Date to String
var formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
guard let unwrappedDate = dateFromString else { return }
//Using the dateFromString variable from before.
let stringDate: String = formatter.string(from: dateFromString)
Swift 3
Updated: 20th July 2017
String to NSDate
var dateString = "02-03-2017"
var dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
// This is important - we set our input date format to match our input string
// if the format doesn't match you'll get nil from your string, so be careful
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
var dateFromString = dateFormatter.date(from: dateString)
NSDate to String
var formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
let stringDate: String = formatter.string(from: dateFromString)
Swift
Updated: 22nd October 2015
String to NSDate
var dateString = "01-02-2010"
var dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
// this is imporant - we set our input date format to match our input string
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
// voila!
var dateFromString = dateFormatter.dateFromString(dateString)
NSDate to String
var formatter = NSDateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
let stringDate: String = formatter.stringFromDate(NSDate())
println(stringDate)
Objective-C
NSString to NSDate
NSString *dateString = @"01-02-2010";
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:@"dd-MM-yyyy"];
NSDate *dateFromString = [dateFormatter dateFromString:dateString];
NSDate convert to NSString:
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:@"dd-MM-yyyy"];
NSString *stringDate = [dateFormatter stringFromDate:[NSDate date]];
NSLog(@"%@", stringDate);
57
votes
UPDATE 2019 (Swift 4):
Made a Date extension for that. It uses NSDataDetector instead of NSDateFormatter.
// Just throw at it without any format.
var date: Date? = Date.FromString("02-14-2019 17:05:05")
Pretty enjoyable, it even recognizes things like "Tomorrow at 5".
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("2019-02-14"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("2019.02.14"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("2019/02/14"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("2019 Feb 14"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("2019 Feb 14th"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("20190214"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("02-14-2019"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("02.14.2019 5:00 PM"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("02/14/2019 17:00"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("14 February 2019 at 5 hour"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("02-14-2019 17:05:05"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17, 05, 05))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("17:05, 14 February 2019 (UTC)"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17, 05))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("02-14-2019 17:05:05 GMT"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17, 05, 05))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("02-13-2019 Tomorrow"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14))
XCTAssertEqual(Date.FromString("2019 Feb 14th Tomorrow at 5"), Date.FromCalendar(2019, 2, 14, 17))
Goes like:
extension Date
{
public static func FromString(_ dateString: String) -> Date?
{
// Date detector.
let detector = try! NSDataDetector(types: NSTextCheckingResult.CheckingType.date.rawValue)
// Enumerate matches.
var matchedDate: Date?
var matchedTimeZone: TimeZone?
detector.enumerateMatches(
in: dateString,
options: [],
range: NSRange(location: 0, length: dateString.utf16.count),
using:
{
(eachResult, _, _) in
// Lookup matches.
matchedDate = eachResult?.date
matchedTimeZone = eachResult?.timeZone
// Convert to GMT (!) if no timezone detected.
if matchedTimeZone == nil, let detectedDate = matchedDate
{ matchedDate = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .second, value: TimeZone.current.secondsFromGMT(), to: detectedDate)! }
})
// Result.
return matchedDate
}
}
UPDATE 2014:
Made an NSString extension for that.
// Simple as this.
date = dateString.dateValue;
Thanks to NSDataDetector, it recognizes a whole lot of format.
'2014-01-16' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'2014.01.16' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'2014/01/16' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'2014 Jan 16' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'2014 Jan 16th' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'20140116' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'01-16-2014' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'01.16.2014' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'01/16/2014' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'16 January 2014' dateValue is <2014-01-16 11:00:00 +0000>
'01-16-2014 17:05:05' dateValue is <2014-01-16 16:05:05 +0000>
'01-16-2014 T 17:05:05 UTC' dateValue is <2014-01-16 17:05:05 +0000>
'17:05, 1 January 2014 (UTC)' dateValue is <2014-01-01 16:05:00 +0000>
Part of eppz!kit, grab the category NSString+EPPZKit.h from GitHub.
ORIGINAL ANSWER 2013:
Whether you're not sure (or don't care) about the date format contained in the string, use NSDataDetector for parsing date.
//Role players.
NSString *dateString = @"Wed, 03 Jul 2013 02:16:02 -0700";
__block NSDate *detectedDate;
//Detect.
NSDataDetector *detector = [NSDataDetector dataDetectorWithTypes:NSTextCheckingAllTypes error:nil];
[detector enumerateMatchesInString:dateString
options:kNilOptions
range:NSMakeRange(0, [dateString length])
usingBlock:^(NSTextCheckingResult *result, NSMatchingFlags flags, BOOL *stop)
{ detectedDate = result.date; }];
33
votes
When using fixed-format dates you need to set the date formatter locale to "en_US_POSIX".
Taken from the Data Formatting Guide
If you're working with fixed-format dates, you should first set the locale of the date formatter to something appropriate for your fixed format. In most cases the best locale to choose is en_US_POSIX, a locale that's specifically designed to yield US English results regardless of both user and system preferences. en_US_POSIX is also invariant in time (if the US, at some point in the future, changes the way it formats dates, en_US will change to reflect the new behavior, but en_US_POSIX will not), and between platforms (en_US_POSIX works the same on iPhone OS as it does on OS X, and as it does on other platforms).
Swift 3 or later
extension Formatter {
static let customDate: DateFormatter = {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.locale = Locale(identifier: "en_US_POSIX")
formatter.dateFormat = "dd/MM/yy"
return formatter
}()
static let time: DateFormatter = {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.locale = Locale(identifier: "en_US_POSIX")
formatter.dateFormat = "HH:mm"
return formatter
}()
static let weekdayName: DateFormatter = {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "cccc"
return formatter
}()
static let month: DateFormatter = {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "LLLL"
return formatter
}()
}
extension Date {
var customDate: String {
return Formatter.customDate.string(from: self)
}
var customTime: String {
return Formatter.time.string(from: self)
}
var weekdayName: String {
return Formatter.weekdayName.string(from: self)
}
var monthName: String {
return Formatter.month.string(from: self)
}
}
extension String {
var customDate: Date? {
return Formatter.customDate.date(from: self)
}
}
usage:
// this will be displayed like this regardless of the user and system preferences
Date().customTime // "16:50"
Date().customDate // "06/05/17"
// this will be displayed according to user and system preferences
Date().weekdayName // "Saturday"
Date().monthName // "May"
Parsing the custom date and converting the date back to the same string format:
let dateString = "01/02/10"
if let date = dateString.customDate {
print(date.customDate) // "01/02/10\n"
print(date.monthName) // customDate
}
Here it is all elements you can use to customize it as necessary:
19
votes
Why not add a category to NSString?
// NSString+Date.h
@interface NSString (Date)
+ (NSDate*)stringDateFromString:(NSString*)string;
+ (NSString*)stringDateFromDate:(NSDate*)date;
@end
// NSString+Date.m
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:@"EEE, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss ZZZ"];
NSDate *date = [dateFormatter dateFromString:stringDate ];
[dateFormatter release];
+ (NSDateFormatter*)stringDateFormatter
{
static NSDateFormatter* formatter = nil;
if (formatter == nil)
{
formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[formatter setDateFormat:@"EEE, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss ZZZ"];
}
return formatter;
}
+ (NSDate*)stringDateFromString:(NSString*)string
{
return [[NSString stringDateFormatter] dateFromString:string];
}
+ (NSString*)stringDateFromDate:(NSDate*)date
{
return [[NSString stringDateFormatter] stringFromDate:date];
}
// Usage (#import "NSString+Date.h") or add in "YOUR PROJECT".pch file
NSString* string = [NSString stringDateFromDate:[NSDate date]];
NSDate* date = [NSString stringDateFromString:string];
6
votes
using "10" for representing a year is not good, because it can be 1910, 1810, etc. You probably should use 4 digits for that.
If you can change the date to something like
yyyymmdd
Then you can use:
// Convert string to date object
NSDateFormatter *dateFormat = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"yyyyMMdd"];
NSDate *date = [dateFormat dateFromString:dateStr];
// Convert date object to desired output format
[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"EEEE MMMM d, YYYY"];
dateStr = [dateFormat stringFromDate:date];
[dateFormat release];
4
votes
2
votes
// Convert string to date
NSDateFormatter *dateFormat = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"yyyyMMdd"];
NSDate *date = [dateFormat dateFromString:dateStr];
// Convert Date to string
[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"EEEE MMMM d, YYYY"];
dateStr = [dateFormat stringFromDate:date];
[dateFormat release];
1
votes
NSString *mystr=@"Your string date";
NSCalendar *cal = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSDate *now = [dateFormatter dateFromString:mystr];
Nslog(@"%@",now);
If you want set the format use below code:
NSString *dateString = @"01-02-2010";
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
// this is important - we set our input date format to match our input string
// if format doesn't match you'll get nil from your string, so be careful
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:@"dd-MM-yyyy"];
NSDate *dateFromString = [[NSDate alloc] init];
// voila!
dateFromString = [dateFormatter dateFromString:dateString];
Nslog(@"%@",[dateFormatter dateFromString:dateString]);
1
votes
1
votes
If anyone is interested in doing something like this in Swift these days, I have a start on something, although it's not perfect.
func detectDate(dateString: NSString) -> NSDate {
var error: NSError?
let detector: NSDataDetector = NSDataDetector.dataDetectorWithTypes(NSTextCheckingType.Date.toRaw(), error: &error)!
if error == nil {
var matches = detector.matchesInString(dateString, options: nil, range: NSMakeRange(0, dateString.length))
let currentLocale = NSLocale.currentLocale()
for match in matches {
match.resultType == NSTextCheckingType.Date
NSLog("Date: \(match.date.description)")
return match.date
}
}
return NSDate()
}
1
votes
Date to NSString
NSString *dateString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",[NSDate date]];
NSLog(@"string: %@",dateString ); //2015-03-24 12:28:49 +0000
NSString to NSDate
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[formatter setDateFormat:@"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss Z"];
NSDate *date = [formatter dateFromString:dateString];
NSLog(@"date: %@", date); //015-03-24 12:28:49 +0000
0
votes
You can use extensions for this.
extension NSDate {
//NSString to NSDate
convenience
init(dateString:String) {
let nsDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
nsDateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss"
// Add the locale if required here
let dateObj = nsDateFormatter.dateFromString(dateString)
self.init(timeInterval:0, sinceDate:dateObj!)
}
//NSDate to time string
func getTime() -> String {
let timeFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
timeFormatter.dateFormat = "hh:mm"
//Can also set the default styles for date or time using .timeStyle or .dateStyle
return timeFormatter.stringFromDate(self)
}
//NSDate to date string
func getDate() -> String {
let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "dd, MMM"
return dateFormatter.stringFromDate(self)
}
//NSDate to String
func getString() -> String {
let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss"
return dateFormatter.stringFromDate(self)
}
}
So while execution actual code will look like follows
var dateObjFromString = NSDate(dateString: cutDateTime)
var dateString = dateObjFromString.getDate()
var timeString = dateObjFromString.getTime()
var stringFromDate = dateObjFromString.getString()
There are some defaults methods as well but I guess it might not work for the format you have given from documentation
-dateFromString(_:)
-stringFromDate(_:)
-localizedStringFromDate(_ date: NSDate,
dateStyle dateStyle: NSDateFormatterStyle,
timeStyle timeStyle: NSDateFormatterStyle) -> String
0
votes
Best practice is to build yourself a general class where you put all your general use methods, methods useful in almost all projects and there add the code suggested by @Pavan as:
+ (NSDate *)getDateOutOfString:(NSString *)passedString andDateFormat:(NSString *)dateFormat{
NSString *dateString = passedString;
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:dateFormat];
NSDate *dateFromString = [[NSDate alloc] init];
dateFromString = [dateFormatter dateFromString:dateString];
return dateFromString;
}
.. and so on for all other useful methods
By doing so you start building a clean reusable code for you app. Cheers!
0
votes
As per Swift 2.2
You can get easily NSDate from String and String from NSDate. e.g.
First set date formatter
let formatter = NSDateFormatter();
formatter.dateStyle = NSDateFormatterStyle.MediumStyle
formatter.timeStyle = .NoStyle
formatter.dateFormat = "MM/dd/yyyy"
Now get date from string and vice versa.
let strDate = formatter.stringFromDate(NSDate())
print(strDate)
let dateFromStr = formatter.dateFromString(strDate)
print(dateFromStr)
Now enjoy.
0
votes
NSString to NSDate or NSDate to NSString
//This method is used to get NSDate from string
//Pass the date formate ex-"dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm a"
+ (NSDate*)getDateFromString:(NSString *)dateString withFormate:(NSString *)formate {
// Converted date from date string
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormatter setLocale:[[NSLocale alloc] initWithLocaleIdentifier:@"en_US"]];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:formate];
NSDate *convertedDate = [dateFormatter dateFromString:dateString];
return convertedDate;
}
//This method is used to get the NSString for NSDate
//Pass the date formate ex-"dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm a"
+ (NSString *)getDateStringFromDate:(NSDate *)date withFormate:(NSString *)formate {
// Converted date from date string
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
//[dateFormatter setLocale:[[NSLocale alloc] initWithLocaleIdentifier:@"en_US"]];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:formate];
NSString *convertedDate = [dateFormatter stringFromDate:date];
return convertedDate;
}
0
votes
The above examples aren't simply written for Swift 3.0+
Update - Swift 3.0+ - Convert Date To String
let date = Date() // insert your date data here
var dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd" // add custom format if you'd like
var dateString = dateFormatter.string(from: date)
0
votes
String To Date
var dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.format = "dd/MM/yyyy"
var dateFromString: Date? = dateFormatter.date(from: dateString) //pass string here
Date To String
var dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-yyyy"
let newDate = dateFormatter.string(from: date) //pass Date here
