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 this manner:

var currentDate = new Date(); 

How can I convert the "8 digit date string" to a suitable date format in order to compare it to currentDate?

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