Converting NSString to NSDate (and back again)

Question

How would I convert an NSString like \"01/02/10\" (meaning 1st February 2010) into an NSDate? And how could I turn the NSDat

Answer 1

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