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 = convertToDateTime("23.11.2009 12:34:56", "dd.MM.yyyy HH:mm:ss"); 

Answer 1

Use new Date(dateString) if your string is compatible with Date.parse(). If your format is incompatible (I think it is), you have to parse the string yourself (should be easy with regular expressions) and create a new Date object with explicit values for year, month, date, hour, minute and second.

Answer 2

I think this can help you: http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/date/

There's a getDateFromFormat() function that you can tweak a little to solve your problem.

Update: there's an updated version of the samples available at javascripttoolbox.com