Convert NSDate to NSString - objective-c

Question

How do I convert, NSDate to NSString so that only the year in #"yyyy" format is output to the string?

Answer 1

How about...
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[formatter setDateFormat:#"yyyy"];
//Optionally for time zone conversions
[formatter setTimeZone:[NSTimeZone timeZoneWithName:#"..."]];
NSString *stringFromDate = [formatter stringFromDate:myNSDateInstance];
//unless ARC is active
[formatter release];
Swift 4.2 :
func stringFromDate(_ date: Date) -> String {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "dd MMM yyyy HH:mm" //yyyy
return formatter.string(from: date)
}

Answer 2

I don't know how we all missed this: localizedStringFromDate:dateStyle:timeStyle:
NSString *dateString = [NSDateFormatter localizedStringFromDate:[NSDate date]
dateStyle:NSDateFormatterShortStyle
timeStyle:NSDateFormatterFullStyle];
NSLog(#"%#",dateString);
outputs '13/06/12 00:22:39 GMT+03:00'

Answer 3

Hope to add more value by providing the normal formatter including the year, month and day with the time.
You can use this formatter for more than just a year
[dateFormat setDateFormat: #"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss zzz"];

Answer 4

there are a number of NSDate helpers on the web, I tend to use:
https://github.com/billymeltdown/nsdate-helper/
Readme extract below:
NSString *displayString = [NSDate stringForDisplayFromDate:date];
This produces the following kinds of output:
‘3:42 AM’ – if the date is after midnight today
‘Tuesday’ – if the date is within the last seven days
‘Mar 1’ – if the date is within the current calendar year
‘Mar 1, 2008’ – else ;-)

Answer 5

In Swift:
var formatter = NSDateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "yyyy"
var dateString = formatter.stringFromDate(YourNSDateInstanceHERE)

Answer 6

NSDateFormatter *dateformate=[[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
[dateformate setDateFormat:#"yyyy"]; // Date formater
NSString *date = [dateformate stringFromDate:[NSDate date]]; // Convert date to string
NSLog(#"date :%#",date);

Answer 7

If you don't have NSDate -descriptionWithCalendarFormat:timeZone:locale: available (I don't believe iPhone/Cocoa Touch includes this) you may need to use strftime and monkey around with some C-style strings. You can get the UNIX timestamp from an NSDate using NSDate -timeIntervalSince1970.

Answer 8

+(NSString*)date2str:(NSDate*)myNSDateInstance onlyDate:(BOOL)onlyDate{
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
if (onlyDate) {
[formatter setDateFormat:#"yyyy-MM-dd"];
}else{
[formatter setDateFormat: #"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"];
}
//Optionally for time zone conversions
// [formatter setTimeZone:[NSTimeZone timeZoneWithName:#"..."]];
NSString *stringFromDate = [formatter stringFromDate:myNSDateInstance];
return stringFromDate;
}
+(NSDate*)str2date:(NSString*)dateStr{
if ([dateStr isKindOfClass:[NSDate class]]) {
return (NSDate*)dateStr;
}
NSDateFormatter *dateFormat = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[dateFormat setDateFormat:#"yyyy-MM-dd"];
NSDate *date = [dateFormat dateFromString:dateStr];
return date;
}

Answer 9

Just add this extension:
extension NSDate {
var stringValue: String {
let formatter = NSDateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "yourDateFormat"
return formatter.stringFromDate(self)
}
}

Answer 10

If you are on Mac OS X you can write:
NSString* s = [[NSDate date] descriptionWithCalendarFormat:#"%Y_%m_%d_%H_%M_%S" timeZone:nil locale:nil];
However this is not available on iOS.

Answer 11

It's swift format :
func dateFormatterWithCalendar(calndarIdentifier: Calendar.Identifier, dateFormat: String) -> DateFormatter {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.calendar = Calendar(identifier: calndarIdentifier)
formatter.dateFormat = dateFormat
return formatter
}
//Usage
let date = Date()
let fotmatter = dateFormatterWithCalendar(calndarIdentifier: .gregorian, dateFormat: "yyyy")
let dateString = fotmatter.string(from: date)
print(dateString) //2018

Answer 12

swift 4 answer
static let dateformat: String = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss"
public static func stringTodate(strDate : String) -> Date
{
let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = dateformat
let date = dateFormatter.date(from: strDate)
return date!
}
public static func dateToString(inputdate : Date) -> String
{
let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = dateformat
return formatter.string(from: inputdate)
}

Answer 13

Use extension to have clear code
You can write an extension to convert any Date object to any desired calendar and any format
extension Date{
func asString(format: String = "yy/MM/dd HH:mm",
for identifier: Calendar.Identifier = .persian) -> String {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.calendar = Calendar(identifier: identifier)
formatter.dateFormat = format
return formatter.string(from: self)
}
}
Then use it like this:
let now = Date()
print(now.asString()) // prints -> 00/04/18 20:25
print(now.asString(format: "yyyy/MM/dd")) // prints -> 1400/04/18
print(now.asString(format: "MM/dd", for: .gregorian)) // prints -> 07/09
To learn how to specify your desired format string take a look at this link.
For a complete reference on how to format dates see Apple's official Date Formatting Guide here.

Answer 14

Simple way to use C# styled way to convert Date to String.
usage:
let a = time.asString()
// 1990-03-25
let b = time.asString("MM ∕ dd ∕ yyyy, hh꞉mm a")
// 03 / 25 / 1990, 10:33 PM
extensions:
extension Date {
func asString(_ template: String? = nil) -> String {
if let template = template {
let df = DateFormatter.with(template: template)
return df.string(from: self)
}
else {
return globalDateFormatter.string(from: self)
}
}
}
// Here you can set default template for DateFormatter
public let globalDateFormatter: DateFormatter = DateFormatter.with(template: "y-M-d")
public extension DateFormatter {
static func with(template: String ) -> DateFormatter {
let df = DateFormatter()
df.dateFormat = template
return df
}
}

Answer 15

NSCalendar *calendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSDateComponents *components = [calendar components:(NSCalendarUnitYear | NSCalendarUnitMonth | NSCalendarUnitDay) fromDate:myNSDateInstance];
NSInteger year = [components year];
// NSInteger month = [components month];
NSString *yearStr = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%ld", year];

Answer 16

Define your own utility for format your date required date format
for eg.
NSString * stringFromDate(NSDate *date)
{ NSDateFormatter *formatter
[[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[formatter setDateFormat:#"MM ∕ dd ∕ yyyy, hh꞉mm a"];
return [formatter stringFromDate:date];
}

Answer 17

#ios #swift #convertDateinString
Simply just do like this to "convert date into string" as per format you passed:
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "dd-MM-YYYY" // pass formate here
let myString = formatter.string(from: date) // this will convert Date in String
Note: You can specify different formats such like "yyyy-MM-dd", "yyyy", "MM" etc...

Answer 18

Update for iOS 15
iOS 15 now supports calling .formatted on Date objects directly without an explicit DateFormatter.
Example for common formats
Documentation
date.formatted() // 6/8/2021, 7:30 PM
date.formatted(date: .omitted, time: .complete) // 19:30
date.formatted(date: .omitted, time: .standard) // 07:30 PM
date.formatted(date: .omitted, time: .shortened) // 7:30 PM
date.formatted(date: .omitted, time: .omitted)
Alternative syntax
Documentation
// We can also specify each DateComponent separately by chaining modifiers.
date.formatted(.dateTime.weekday(.wide).day().month().hour().minute())
// Tuesday, Jun 8, 7:30 pm
// Answer to specific question
date.formatted(.dateTime.year())

Answer 19

for Objective-C:
NSDate *date = [NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:0];
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [NSDateFormatter new];
formatter.dateFormat = #"yyyy";
NSString *dateString = [formatter stringFromDate:date];
for Swift:
let now = Date()
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateFormat = "yyyy"
let dateString = formatter.string(from: now)
That's a good website for nsdateformatter.You can preview date strings with different DateFormatter in different local.