Relative dates

charlie_bowman1 · 30 January 2006 00:15

today = Time.now

how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

I know the above won't work, but how can I get the date of last week?

···

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Ezra_Zygmuntowicz · 30 January 2006 02:04

today = Time.now

how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

I know the above won't work, but how can I get the date of last week?

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

Charlie-

In rails actionpack supplies that method for you. Look here:

>> require 'rubygems'
=> false
>> require_gem 'actionpack'
=> true
>> 7.days.ago
=> Sun Jan 22 18:04:05 PST 2006
>>

Cheers-
-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
WebMaster
Yakima Herald-Republic Newspaper

ezra@yakima-herald.com
blog: http://brainspl.at

···

On Jan 29, 2006, at 4:15 PM, charlie bowman wrote:

Cameron_McBride · 30 January 2006 03:21

how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

or subtract in seconds:
last_week = today - 7*24*60*60

Cameron

Antonio_Cangiano1 · 1 February 2006 21:37

charlie bowman wrote:

today = Time.now

how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

I know the above won't work, but how can I get the date of last week?

Hi Charlie,
you could define something like this:

class Integer
   def weeks
     self * 7.days
   end

   def days
     self * 24.hours
   end

   def hours
     self * 60.minutes
   end

   def minutes
     self * 60
   end

   def ago(time = Time.now)
     time - self
   end
end

puts 7.days.ago #=> Mon Jan 23 01:50:09 GMT 2006
puts 1.weeks.ago #=> Mon Jan 23 01:50:09 GMT 2006

Of course you can alias days with day, weeks with week, add months, years and so on. You can also add extra methods like Rails does (until, since, from_now, etc...)

Cheers,
Antonio

···

--
Antonio Cangiano
My Ruby blog: http://www.antoniocangiano.com

A_LeDonne · 30 January 2006 04:28

This is probably going to be easier with Date than with Time...

irb(main):001:0> require 'date'
=> true
irb(main):002:0> now = Date.today; now.strftime()
=> "2006-01-29"
irb(main):003:0> last_week = now - 7; last_week.strftime()
=> "2006-01-22"

If you are concerned about times, you can use DateTime in place of Date above.

-A

···

On 1/29/06, Cameron McBride <cameron.mcbride@gmail.com> wrote:

> how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

or subtract in seconds:
last_week = today - 7*24*60*60

Cameron

charlie_bowman1 · 30 January 2006 04:56

Thanks, I had no idea that it was so simple in Ruby!

today = Time.now
puts (today - 7)

I thought I would have to write the method myself!

A LeDonne wrote:

···

On 1/29/06, Cameron McBride <cameron.mcbride@gmail.com> wrote:

> how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

or subtract in seconds:
last_week = today - 7*24*60*60

Cameron

This is probably going to be easier with Date than with Time...

irb(main):001:0> require 'date'
=> true
irb(main):002:0> now = Date.today; now.strftime()
=> "2006-01-29"
irb(main):003:0> last_week = now - 7; last_week.strftime()
=> "2006-01-22"

If you are concerned about times, you can use DateTime in place of Date
above.

-A

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

Ezra_Zygmuntowicz · 30 January 2006 06:59

how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"

In rails you are already done:

>> require_gem 'actionpack'
=> true
>> last_week = 7.days.ago
=> Sun Jan 22 22:59:26 PST 2006
>> p last_week
Sun Jan 22 22:59:26 PST 2006

-Ezra

or subtract in seconds:
last_week = today - 7*24*60*60

Cameron

This is probably going to be easier with Date than with Time...

irb(main):001:0> require 'date'
=> true
irb(main):002:0> now = Date.today; now.strftime()
=> "2006-01-29"
irb(main):003:0> last_week = now - 7; last_week.strftime()
=> "2006-01-22"

If you are concerned about times, you can use DateTime in place of Date above.

-A

-Ezra Zygmuntowicz
WebMaster
Yakima Herald-Republic Newspaper

ezra@yakima-herald.com
blog: http://brainspl.at

···

On Jan 29, 2006, at 8:28 PM, A LeDonne wrote:

On 1/29/06, Cameron McBride <cameron.mcbride@gmail.com> wrote:

A_LeDonne · 30 January 2006 05:14

Thanks, I had no idea that it was so simple in Ruby!

today = Time.now
puts (today - 7)

Careful!

If you're using Time, you're subtracting SECONDS:
irb(main):001:0> today = Time.now
=> Mon Jan 30 00:11:51 EST 2006
irb(main):002:0> puts( today - 7 )
Mon Jan 30 00:11:44 EST 2006
=> nil

That's why I included the " require 'date' " in my example, and
suggested that you could use DateTime if you needed times.

···

On 1/29/06, charlie bowman <cbowmanschool@yahoo.com> wrote:

I thought I would have to write the method myself!

A LeDonne wrote:
> On 1/29/06, Cameron McBride <cameron.mcbride@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"
>>
>> or subtract in seconds:
>> last_week = today - 7*24*60*60
>>
>> Cameron
>>
>
> This is probably going to be easier with Date than with Time...
>
> irb(main):001:0> require 'date'
> => true
> irb(main):002:0> now = Date.today; now.strftime()
> => "2006-01-29"
> irb(main):003:0> last_week = now - 7; last_week.strftime()
> => "2006-01-22"
>
> If you are concerned about times, you can use DateTime in place of Date
> above.
>
> -A

Seth_Thomas_Rasmusse · 1 February 2006 21:44

Haha... it appears like you got ignored doubly for having the exact,
ready-made solution for his problem.

Weird world...

Nathaniel_Brown2 · 30 January 2006 05:31

You might want to check out RUNT:

http://runt.rubyforge.org/

DateBox might also be worth a gander:

http://datebox.inimit.com

-Nb

···

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathaniel S. H. Brown http://nshb.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
From: A LeDonne [mailto:aledonne.listmail@gmail.com]
Sent: January 29, 2006 9:15 PM
To: ruby-talk ML; cbowmanschool@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: relative dates

On 1/29/06, charlie bowman <cbowmanschool@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, I had no idea that it was so simple in Ruby!
>
>
> today = Time.now
> puts (today - 7)

Careful!

If you're using Time, you're subtracting SECONDS:
irb(main):001:0> today = Time.now
=> Mon Jan 30 00:11:51 EST 2006
irb(main):002:0> puts( today - 7 )
Mon Jan 30 00:11:44 EST 2006
=> nil

That's why I included the " require 'date' " in my example,
and suggested that you could use DateTime if you needed times.

>
>
> I thought I would have to write the method myself!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> A LeDonne wrote:
> > On 1/29/06, Cameron McBride <cameron.mcbride@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > how can I do this? "last_week = 7.days.ago"
> >>
> >> or subtract in seconds:
> >> last_week = today - 7*24*60*60
> >>
> >> Cameron
> >>
> >
> > This is probably going to be easier with Date than with Time...
> >
> > irb(main):001:0> require 'date'
> > => true
> > irb(main):002:0> now = Date.today; now.strftime() => "2006-01-29"
> > irb(main):003:0> last_week = now - 7; last_week.strftime() =>
> > "2006-01-22"
> >
> > If you are concerned about times, you can use DateTime in
place of
> > Date above.
> >
> > -A

charlie_bowman1 · 30 January 2006 13:27

Your're right! as soon as I implemented it I noticed the seconds change.
I just came up with the number of seconds in a day and used that. I
would be nice if it were as simple in ruby as it is in rails, but I know
speed is more important and ease of use.....usually.

A LeDonne wrote:

···

On 1/29/06, charlie bowman <cbowmanschool@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thanks, I had no idea that it was so simple in Ruby!

today = Time.now
puts (today - 7)

Careful!

If you're using Time, you're subtracting SECONDS:
irb(main):001:0> today = Time.now
=> Mon Jan 30 00:11:51 EST 2006
irb(main):002:0> puts( today - 7 )
Mon Jan 30 00:11:44 EST 2006
=> nil

That's why I included the " require 'date' " in my example, and
suggested that you could use DateTime if you needed times.

--
Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/\.

Alex_Combas · 30 January 2006 17:56

What?! Speed more important than ease of use in Ruby!? Surly you jest sir!!

=)

···

On 1/30/06, charlie bowman <cbowmanschool@yahoo.com> wrote:

Your're right! as soon as I implemented it I noticed the seconds change.
I just came up with the number of seconds in a day and used that. I
would be nice if it were as simple in ruby as it is in rails, but I know
speed is more important and ease of use.....usually.

--
Alex Combas
http://noodlejunkie.blogspot.com/

Adam_Sanderson · 1 February 2006 21:42

Depending on if you need the time component, it may just be eaiser to
work with the Date object.

d = Date.today
lw = d - 7

'lw' will be 7 days ago. In this case adding and subtracting seconds
will be fine, but be careful about it, days aren't always 24 hours long
(think about daylight savings time), and it can really catch up with
you sometimes.

.adam

Seth_Thomas_Rasmusse · 1 February 2006 21:45

Charlie,

"I would be nice if it were as simple in ruby as it is in rails"

First, Rails is Ruby. Second, Rails is a smart grouping of stand-alone
components, one of which already has the extensions to do EXACTLY what
you mentioned in your first post.

I'm curious to know why you and the rest of the group seem so focused
on other solutions, given that something so slick already exists. I may
have glanced over the replies too quickly, but it didn't seem like
their are requirements that rule out the ActionPack solution.

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Relative dates

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