Converting a date in MySQL format to human readable in Perl

resetreset · 02-09-2009, 08:35 AM

Hi,
I have a variable, say $ary[3], which contains a MySQL date eg. "2001-1-19" for 19th Jan, 2001. How do I convert it in Perl to something more human, eg. "19th January, 2001"?

Thanks.

Telemachos · 02-09-2009, 09:46 AM

Take a look at the CPAN, in particular Class::Date or Date::Manip. There are lots of other time/date modules as well.

I got bored at work, so here's a quick example using Date::Calc:

Code:

#!/usr/bin/env perl
use strict;
use warnings;
use Date::Calc qw/Month_to_Text English_Ordinal/;

my $mysql = '2001-1-19';

my ( $year, $month, $day ) = split /-/, $mysql;

my $string = sprintf("%s %s, %d", English_Ordinal($day), Month_to_Text($month), $year);

print "$string\n";

Your exact problem shows up in one of the recipes.

chrism01 · 02-09-2009, 05:58 PM

How about using MySQL date_format() fn: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/...on_date-format

Telemachos · 02-09-2009, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

How about using MySQL date_format() fn: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/...on_date-format

Heh - I would blame it on Resetreset (for asking about a Perl solution), but the truth is, I'm much more comfortable with Perl than databases anyhow. (Also, at a quick glance the MySQL date_format doesn't seem to offer the English_Ordinal convenience function to give 3rd for 3 and 1st for 1. But I imagine it's a lot faster.)

burschik · 02-10-2009, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by resetreset

Hi,
I have a variable, say $ary[3], which contains a MySQL date eg. "2001-1-19" for 19th Jan, 2001. How do I convert it in Perl to something more human, eg. "19th January, 2001"?

Thanks.

More human? You don't think you might be culturally biased? I'd guess most people in the world find ISO dates more readable than traditional English dates.

jlinkels · 02-10-2009, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burschik

More human? You don't think you might be culturally biased? I'd guess most people in the world find ISO dates more readable than traditional English dates.

Haha, I am a strong advocate about using ISO date format since 1981. I have met nothing than opposition and puzzeled looks. Except for one company I worked for where it was company policy. Even in my current company where they use strictly ISO for broadcast schedules, they use dd-mm-yyyy for the regular administration.

jlinkels

graemef · 02-11-2009, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Telemachos

at a quick glance the MySQL date_format doesn't seem to offer the English_Ordinal convenience function to give 3rd for 3 and 1st for 1.

The MYSQL DATE_FORMAT Specifier %D should do it for you

Telemachos · 02-11-2009, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graemef

The MYSQL DATE_FORMAT Specifier %D should do it for you

Wow, I'm 0 for 2 in this thread. Thanks for pointing it out, he said while sheepishly making a note to read the f@#$ing manual more slowly next time.