I am working on a web application where a user can set his/her timezone in the application which is further used in the application for various date-time conversions. The selected timezone can be different from user's locale timezone.
I am currently stuck on a problem where I need to compare a user selected date(which user assumes to be in the timezone selected by him/her in the application) with the current date to see if the selected date is a date in future. With reference to all the places I have searched, I have found that I can get current date in user locale or UTC time.
So the gist of my problem is - Is there any way to convert a date from one timezone to another using the timezone abbreviations?
I have searched a lot before posting here but could not get any solution. Most of the places that I found during my search suggest that there is no such solution available.
I have tried using date.js but it does not suffice the purpose as it is quite outdated and also the timezone abbreviations supported by it is a very limited set. I have also taken a look a timezoneJS but I don't think that it works with timezone abbreviations.
Is there any way in which it can be accomplished using javascript or jquery?
Here you go:
// calculate local time in a different city given the city's UTC offset
function calcTime(city, offset) {
// create Date object for current location
var date = new Date();
// convert to msec
// add local time zone offset
// get UTC time in msec
var utc = date.getTime() + (date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000);
// create new Date object for different city
// using supplied offset
var newDate = new Date(utc + (3600000 * offset));
// return time as a string
return "The local time in " + city + " is " + newDate.toLocaleString();
}
// get Bombay time
console.log(calcTime('Bombay', '+5.5'));
// get Singapore time
console.log(calcTime('Singapore', '+8'));
// get London time
console.log(calcTime('London', '+1'));
Related
I am working on a angular project.
I want to the start time and off time of a office in a table.
Example : 8:30 - 17:30
The office has two branches in UK and India.
So user may enter time in UK time or Indian time. But I am going to store the time in GMT time.
SO I want to give an option to select the time zone and enter the time.
Then I have to convert then that time into GMT time and send to database.
How can I convert UK time to GMT time?
Or do you know any idea to do this scenario Please advice me.
Thank you
ECMAScript Date instances don't have a timezone, they are inherently UTC. System settings are used for default toString plus get and set methods so they appear to be local.
Also, the parser is very basic and is generally to be avoided other than for parsing the exact format specified for toISOString.
You should also see How to initialize a JavaScript Date to a particular time zone, which might be a duplicate for this question.
The best way to achieve what you're after (until the Temporal object is widely supported) is to use a library. There are a number of libraries that work with timezones, the following uses Luxon.
// Alias
let DateTime = luxon.DateTime;
// Create a date for now in London
let ukDate = DateTime.now().setZone('Europe/London');
// Set it to the required time
let ukOpenTime = ukDate.set({hour:8, minute:30, second:0, millisecond: 0});
console.log('ukOpenTime as string :' + ukOpenTime.toString());
// Get time value to store
let millis = ukOpenTime.toMillis();
console.log('ukOpenTime as time value: ' + millis);
// Show equivalent local time in numerous ways
// Shift ukOpenTime to local zone: default is the local (system) timezone
let localOpenTime = ukOpenTime.setZone();
console.log('Equivalent local time 1 : ' + localOpenTime.toString());
// Use the time value (millis) to create a new Luxon object
let localOpenTime2 = DateTime.fromMillis(millis);
console.log('Equivalent local time 2 : ' + localOpenTime2.toString());
// Use the time value (millis) to create a plain date
let localOpenTime3 = new Date(millis);
console.log('Equivalent local time 3 : ' + localOpenTime3.toString());
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/luxon/3.0.1/luxon.min.js"></script>
why not store it in Epoch Time and convert it every time? like 1659755549?
or use epoch as intermediate for calculation
p.s. no rep for comments :(
What is the best way to get client's timezone and convert it to some other timezone when using moment.js and moment-timezone.js
I want to find out what is clients timezone and later convert his date and time into some other timezone.
Does anybody has experience with this?
When using moment.js, use:
var tz = moment.tz.guess();
It will return an IANA time zone identifier, such as America/Los_Angeles for the US Pacific time zone.
It is documented here.
Internally, it first tries to get the time zone from the browser using the following call:
Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone
If you are targeting only modern browsers that support this function, and you don't need Moment-Timezone for anything else, then you can just call that directly.
If Moment-Timezone doesn't get a valid result from that function, or if that function doesn't exist, then it will "guess" the time zone by testing several different dates and times against the Date object to see how it behaves. The guess is usually a good enough approximation, but not guaranteed to exactly match the time zone setting of the computer.
var timedifference = new Date().getTimezoneOffset();
This returns the difference from the clients timezone from UTC time.
You can then play around with it as you like.
All current answers provide the offset differece at current time, not at a given date.
moment(date).utcOffset() returns the time difference in minutes between browser time and UTC at the date passed as argument (or today, if no date passed).
Here's a function to parse correct offset at the picked date:
function getUtcOffset(date) {
return moment(date)
.subtract(
moment(date).utcOffset(),
'minutes')
.utc()
}
Using Moment library, see their website -> https://momentjs.com/timezone/docs/#/using-timezones/converting-to-zone/
i notice they also user their own library in their website, so you can have a try using the browser console before installing it
moment().tz(String);
The moment#tz mutator will change the time zone and update the offset.
moment("2013-11-18").tz("America/Toronto").format('Z'); // -05:00
moment("2013-11-18").tz("Europe/Berlin").format('Z'); // +01:00
This information is used consistently in other operations, like calculating the start of the day.
var m = moment.tz("2013-11-18 11:55", "America/Toronto");
m.format(); // 2013-11-18T11:55:00-05:00
m.startOf("day").format(); // 2013-11-18T00:00:00-05:00
m.tz("Europe/Berlin").format(); // 2013-11-18T06:00:00+01:00
m.startOf("day").format(); // 2013-11-18T00:00:00+01:00
Without an argument, moment#tz returns:
the time zone name assigned to the moment instance or
undefined if a time zone has not been set.
var m = moment.tz("2013-11-18 11:55", "America/Toronto");
m.tz(); // America/Toronto
var m = moment.tz("2013-11-18 11:55");
m.tz() === undefined; // true
You can also get your wanted time using the following JS code:
new Date(`${post.data.created_at} GMT+0200`)
In this example, my received dates were in GMT+0200 timezone. Instead of it can be every single timezone. And the returned data will be the date in your timezone. Hope this will help anyone to save time
if the user's timezone is all you wanted then
const localtz = moment.tz.guess() // returns user's timezone
Additionally if you wanted to use it then the best way to convert a timestamp to user's timezone is
const time = moment.tz(response.timestamp)
const localtz = moment.tz.guess() // user's timezone
const date = time.clone().tz(localtz) // convert time to user's timezone
here localtz is the user's timezone and using it we can convert the timestamp to user's local time
First, you can find out the clients time zone using the following
let zoneVal = moment().tz(Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone).format('Z')
it will return you the GMT zone format for example +5:30 (colombo/srilanka & Delhi/India) or +6:00(Dhaka Bangladesh) depending on the region you are in.
secondly,
if you want to find out the time of a particular time zone , then do the following
moment.tz("Asia/Dhaka").format()
which will return you the time zone value in ISO format of Dhaka.
Using moment timezone you can get easily your local date-time
moment().utcOffset(0, true).format()
I am working on a cloud based application which deals extensively with date and time values, for users across the world.
Consider a scenario, in JavaScript, where my machine is in India (GMT+05:30), and I have to display a clock running in California's timezone (GMT-08:00).
In this case I have to get a new date object,
let india_date = new Date()
add it's time zone offset value,
let uts_ms = india_date.getTime() + india_date.getTimezoneOffset()
add california's timezone offset value,
let california_ms = utc_ms + getCaliforniaTimezoneOffsetMS()
and finally the date object.
let california_date: Date = new Date(california_ms)
Is there any way to directly deal with these kinds of time zones without having to convert the values again and again?
First, let's talk about the code in your question.
let india_date = new Date()
You have named this variable india_date, but the Date object will only reflect India if the code is run on a computer set to India's time zone. If it is run on a computer with a different time zone, it will reflect that time zone instead. Keep in mind that internally, the Date object only tracks a UTC based timestamp. The local time zone is applied when functions and properties that need local time are called - not when the Date object is created.
add it's timezone offset value
let uts_ms = india_date.getTime() + india_date.getTimezoneOffset()
This approach is incorrect. getTime() already returns a UTC based timestamp. You don't need to add your local offset. (also, the abbreviation is UTC, not UTS.)
Now add california's timezone offset value
let california_ms = utc_ms + getCaliforniaTimezoneOffsetMS()
Again, adding an offset is incorrect. Also, unlike India, California observes daylight saving time, so part of the year the offset will be 480 (UTC-8), and part of the year the offset will be 420 (UTC-7). Any function such as your getCaliforniatimezoneOffsetMS would need to have the timestamp passed in as a parameter to be effective.
and finally the date object
let california_date: Date = new Date(california_ms)
When the Date constructor is passed a numeric timestamp, it must be in terms of UTC. Passing it this california_ms timestamp is actually just picking a different point in time. You can't change the Date object's behavior to get it to use a different time zone just by adding or subtracting an offset. It will still use the local time zone of where it runs, for any function that requires a local time, such as .toString() and others.
There is only one scenario where this sort of adjustment makes sense, which is a technique known as "epoch shifting". The timestamp is adjusted to shift the base epoch away from the normal 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z, thus allowing one to take advantage of the Date object's UTC functions (such as getUTCHours and others). The catch is: once shifted, you can't ever use any of the local time functions on that Date object, or pass it to anything else that expects the Date object to be a normal one. Epoch shifting done right is what powers libraries like Moment.js. Here is another example of epoch shifting done correctly.
But in your example, you are shifting (twice in error) and then using the Date object as if it were normal and not shifted. This can only lead to errors, evident by the time zone shown in toString output, and will arise mathematically near any DST transitions of the local time zone and the intended target time zone. In general, you don't want to take this approach.
Instead, read my answer on How to initialize a JavaScript Date to a particular time zone. Your options are listed there. Thanks.
JavaScript Date objects store date and time in UTC but the toString() method is automatically called when the date is represented as a text value which displays the date and time in the browser's local time zone. So, when you want to convert a datetime to a time zone other than your local time, you are really converting from UTC to that time zone (not from your local time zone to another time zone).
If your use case is limited to specific browsers and you are flexible on formatting (since browsers may differ in how they display date string formats), then you may be able to use toLocaleString(), but browsers like Edge, Android webview, etc do not fully support the locales and options parameters.
Following example sets both the locale and timezone to output the date in a local format that may vary from browser to browser.
const dt = new Date();
const kolkata = dt.toLocaleString('en-IN', { timeZone: 'Asia/Kolkata' });
const la = dt.toLocaleString('en-US', { timeZone: 'America/Los_Angeles' });
console.log('Kolkata:', kolkata);
// example output: Kolkata: 19/3/2019, 7:36:26 pm
console.log('Los Angeles:', la);
// example output: Los Angeles: 3/19/2019, 7:06:26 AM
You could also use Moment.js and Moment Timezone to convert date and time to a time zone other than your local time zone. For example:
const dt = moment();
const kolkata = dt.tz('Asia/Kolkata').format();
const la = dt.tz('America/Los_Angeles').format();
console.log(kolkata);
// example output: 2019-03-19T19:37:11+05:30
console.log(la);
// example output: 2019-03-19T07:07:11-07:00
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/moment.js/2.24.0/moment.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/moment-timezone/0.5.23/moment-timezone-with-data.min.js"></script>
Well, you really do kind of have to convert anytime you want to change the display, but it's not as bad as you think.
First, store all time as UTC. Probably using the milliseconds format, e.g. Date.UTC().
Second, do all manipulation / comparison using that stored info.
Third, if your cloud-based application has an API that API should only talk in terms of UTC as well, though you could provide the ISO string if you prefer that to the MS, or if you expect clients to handle that better.
Fourth and finally, only in the UI should you do the final conversion to the local date/time string, either with the method you're describing or using a library such as momentjs
new Date creates a Date object with a time value that is UTC. If you can guarantee support for the timeZone option of toLocaleString (e.g. corporate environment with a controlled SOE), you can use it to construct a timestamp in any time zone and any format, but it can be a bit tedious. Support on the general web may be lacking. A library would be preferred in that case if you need it to work reliably.
E.g. to get values for California, you can use toLocaleString and "America/Los_Angeles" for the timeZone option:
var d = new Date();
// Use the default implementation format
console.log(d.toLocaleString(undefined, {timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'}));
// Customised format
var weekday = d.toLocaleString(undefined, {weekday:'long', timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'});
var day = d.toLocaleString(undefined, {day:'numeric', timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'});
var month = d.toLocaleString(undefined, {month:'long', timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'});
var year = d.toLocaleString(undefined, {year:'numeric', timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'});
var hour = d.toLocaleString(undefined, {hour:'numeric',hour12: false, timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'});
var minute = d.toLocaleString(undefined, {minute:'2-digit', timeZone:'America/Los_Angeles'});
var ap = hour > 11? 'pm' : 'am';
hour = ('0' + (hour % 12 || 12)).slice(-2);
console.log(`The time in Los Angeles is ${hour}:${minute} ${ap} on ${weekday}, ${day} ${month}, ${year}`);
Getting the timezone name is a little more difficult, it's difficult to get it without other information.
I am using globalize to format datetime per locale.
var Globalize = require('globalize');
var formatter = Globalize('en-US').dateFormatter();
formatter(new Date());
It works great but I was wondering if I can format date for specific timezone. This way, it always formats date in the local machine timezone.
For example, let's say my machine timezone is PST. Can I use globalize to format date in EST?
Stolen from here
This solution works by using the getTimeOffset() (which returns the time difference between UTC time and local time, in minutes) function to find the UTC time offset of a given location and changing it to milliseconds, then performing calculations from UTC to return a time for a different time zone.
/**
* function to calculate local time
* in a different city
* given the city's UTC offset
*/
function calcTime(city, offset) {
// create Date object for current location
var d = new Date();
// convert to msec
// add local time zone offset
// get UTC time in msec
var utc = d.getTime() + (d.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000);
// create new Date object for different city
// using supplied offset
var nd = new Date(utc + (3600000*offset));
// return time as a string
return "The local time in " + city + " is " + nd.toLocaleString();
}
This solution will work, but it's simpler to express timezone in minutes and adjust the UTC minutes.
Please let me know if this works for you!
The javascript function new date() generates a date/time stamp based off the machine time at the moment that the function was called. So if the function is called by a machine that is in Alaska, it will generate a date/time stamp based on the current time in Alaska at that exact moment.
w3school.com has great references to most coding related items. You can find the answer to your question here.
I need to get the current time of different places using javascript.
I would get the UTC using following method.
function calcUTC() {
// create Date object for current location
var d = new Date();
// convert to msec
// subtract local time zone offset
// get UTC time in msec
var utc = d.getTime() - (d.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000);
return utc;
}
Now I need to find the timezoneOffset of a particular place so that i can add this offset to the utc to get the current time of the location.
The places could be US,CANADA or any other. there are three different timezones in US. kindly do the possible
Thanks
getTime() method of Date object itself returns UTC value.
Refer: MDN Date object getTime Method
It says,
Method returns the numeric value corresponding to the time for the
specified date according to universal time.
You should not need to subtract or add local time zone offset.
In order to calculate local time for other time zones, you would need to find the offset values for these time-zones (this should take into account the daylight saving time).
Note: JavaScript Date object does not provide any method that takes time zone as input and returns offset for that timezone.
Also, if offset value is absolute, you will need to subtract or add offset, depending upon whether the time zone is before or after GMT.
If you know the time zone offset of the place you want the time of, it's quite simple to just use UTC methods. For example:
/*
** #param {number} offsetInMinutes - Timezone offset for place to be returned
** +ve for east, -ve for west
*/
function timeAt(offsetInMinutes) {
function z(n){return (n<10? '0':'') + n}
var now = new Date();
now.setUTCMinutes(now.getUTCMinutes() + offsetInMinutes);
return z(now.getUTCHours()) + ':' + z(now.getUTCMinutes()) + ':' + z(now.getUTCSeconds());
}
So for a place UTC+0200 you'd do:
console.log(timeAt(120));
and for a place UTC-0430 you'd do:
console.log(timeAt(-270));