How can I convert string to datetime with format specification in JavaScript?

Question

How can I convert a string to a date time object in javascript by specifying a format string?

I am looking for something like:

var dateTime = convert         


        

Answer 1

@Christoph Mentions using a regex to tackle the problem. Here's what I'm using:

var dateString = "2010-08-09 01:02:03";
var reggie = /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2}) (\d{2}):(\d{2}):(\d{2})/;
var dateArray = reggie.exec(dateString); 
var dateObject = new Date(
    (+dateArray[1]),
    (+dateArray[2])-1, // Careful, month starts at 0!
    (+dateArray[3]),
    (+dateArray[4]),
    (+dateArray[5]),
    (+dateArray[6])
);

It's by no means intelligent, just configure the regex and new Date(blah) to suit your needs.

Edit: Maybe a bit more understandable in ES6 using destructuring:

let dateString = "2010-08-09 01:02:03"
  , reggie = /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2}) (\d{2}):(\d{2}):(\d{2})/
  , [, year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds] = reggie.exec(dateString)
  , dateObject = new Date(year, month-1, day, hours, minutes, seconds);

But in all honesty these days I reach for something like Moment