Is it possible to override the built-in Angular 2 pipes so they can be used globally?

Question

I would like to override the "date" pipe and enjoy the benefit of global access everywhere just like the built-in pipe--aka, avoid having to import and use pipes[] array in every component annotation. Is this possible?

Answer 1

Yes, you can use PLATFORM_PIPES to add a custom pipe and name that pipe date to hijack it.

@Pipe({
   name : 'date' // Hijacks the 'date' pipe
})
class CustomDatePipe {
  transform(val, args) {
    return /* do something new with the value */;
  }
}

@Component({
  selector: 'my-app',
  template : '{{mydate | date}}',
})
export class App {
  mydate = Date.now();
}

// Provides the CustomDatePipe globally
bootstrap(App, [provide(PLATFORM_PIPES, {useValue: [CustomDatePipe], multi: true})]);

This way you won't have to add specify it every time in pipes property in your components.

Here's a plnkr with an example working.