Convert Returned String (YYYYMMDD) to Date

Question

I have a string that contains 8 digits that represent a date. For example:

20120515

I\'d like to compare it with today\'s date, created in

Answer 1

Use the substring method and substring off 4 elements and assign it to your new date for the year. Then substring off two elements at a time and store the month and date accordingly.

var dateString  = "20120515";
var year        = dateString.substring(0,4);
var month       = dateString.substring(4,6);
var day         = dateString.substring(6,8);

var date        = new Date(year, month-1, day);
var currentDate = new Date();

Now you can compare the two dates with the normal operators.

Answer 2

If you want a small date library you can use moment.js.

var a = moment("20120515", "YYYYMMDD");
// then use any of moment's manipulation or display functionality
a.format("MMM Do YYYY"); // May 15th 2012
a.fromNow(); // 14 hours ago
a.calendar(); // Today at 12:00 AM