Converting timestamp

Cover Image for Converting timestamp
Matheus Mello
Matheus Mello
published a few days ago. updated a few hours ago

šŸ“… Converting Timestamps: Easy Solutions for Common Issues šŸ•°ļø

šŸ‘‹ Hey there, tech enthusiasts! If you're struggling with converting timestamps and need easy solutions, you've come to the right place. šŸ‘

šŸ’” Recently, I stumbled upon a question from a fellow developer who was grappling with converting a timestamp from Firebase into a readable date format. The timestamp looked like this: 1522129071. They needed help on how to convert it into a date. Let's dive right in and solve this problem together! šŸ’Ŗ

šŸ”¤ A Swift Solution:

The first code snippet shared by the developer showcases a solution in Swift. Here's a simplified breakdown of the steps:

  1. Define the readTimestamp function that accepts an Int parameter, timestamp.

  2. Get the current date and time using Date() and store it in the now variable.

  3. Create an instance of DateFormatter to format the date later on.

  4. Use Date(timeIntervalSince1970: Double(timestamp)) to convert the timestamp into a Date object.

  5. Define a set of Calendar.Component that you want to extract from the date, in this case: seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks.

  6. Calculate the time difference between the obtained date and the current date using Calendar.current.dateComponents.

  7. Initialize an empty string, timeText, to store the formatted time.

  8. Set the locale of the dateFormatter to .current and the dateFormat to the desired time format, in this case: "HH:mm a".

  9. Check if the time difference is less than or equal to 0 seconds or if it's greater than 0 seconds and there are no minutes, hours, or days difference. If so, format the date using dateFormatter.string(from: date).

  10. If there is a day difference, format the day message accordingly.

  11. If there is a week difference, format the week message accordingly.

  12. Finally, return the formatted timeText.

šŸ“ An Attempt in Dart:

The developer also shared their attempt at solving the same problem in Dart. However, they encountered issues where the converted dates and times seemed way off. Here's the original code snippet:

String readTimestamp(int timestamp) {
    var now = new DateTime.now();
    var format = new DateFormat('HH:mm a');
    var date = new DateTime.fromMicrosecondsSinceEpoch(timestamp);
    var diff = date.difference(now);
    var time = '';

    if (diff.inSeconds <= 0 || diff.inSeconds > 0 && diff.inMinutes == 0 || diff.inMinutes > 0 && diff.inHours == 0 || diff.inHours > 0 && diff.inDays == 0) {
      time = format.format(date); // Doesn't get called when it should be
    } else {
      time = diff.inDays.toString() + 'DAYS AGO'; // Gets call and it's the wrong date
    }

    return time;
}

šŸž Troubleshooting the Dart Solution:

Upon analysis, the issue with the Dart code seems to lie in correctly converting the timestamp to a DateTime object. The timestamp value provided is in seconds, but the fromMicrosecondsSinceEpoch method expects the timestamp in microseconds. To fix this, we need to multiply the timestamp by 1000.

Additionally, there's a minor typo in the day formatting. The code uses 'DAYS AGO', but it should be ' DAY AGO' for singular day cases.

Check out the updated code snippet below:

String readTimestamp(int timestamp) {
    var now = new DateTime.now();
    var format = new DateFormat('HH:mm a');
    var date = new DateTime.fromMicrosecondsSinceEpoch(timestamp * 1000); // Multiply the timestamp by 1000 to convert it into microseconds
    var diff = date.difference(now);
    var time = '';

    if (diff.inSeconds <= 0 || diff.inSeconds > 0 && diff.inMinutes == 0 || diff.inMinutes > 0 && diff.inHours == 0 || diff.inHours > 0 && diff.inDays == 0) {
      time = format.format(date); // Gets called correctly now
    } else {
      if (diff.inDays == 1) {
        time = diff.inDays.toString() + ' DAY AGO'; // Corrected typo for singular day
      } else {
        time = diff.inDays.toString() + ' DAYS AGO';
      }
    }

    return time;
}

šŸŽ‰ Congrats! You're all set with a revised and working Dart solution. šŸš€

āœØ In conclusion, converting timestamps doesn't have to be a headache. Whether you're working with Swift or Dart, the key lies in understanding the underlying concepts and being aware of any nuances, such as unit conversion or formatting discrepancies.

šŸ¤ If you found this guide helpful or have any other doubts, feel free to leave a comment below. Let's geek out together and solve problems as a community! šŸ’¬šŸ‘©ā€šŸ’»šŸ‘Øā€šŸ’»

āœŒļø Keep on coding and converting timestamps like a pro! ā°ā¤ļø


More Stories

Cover Image for How can I echo a newline in a batch file?

How can I echo a newline in a batch file?

updated a few hours ago
batch-filenewlinewindows

šŸ”„ šŸ’» šŸ†’ Title: "Getting a Fresh Start: How to Echo a Newline in a Batch File" Introduction: Hey there, tech enthusiasts! Have you ever found yourself in a sticky situation with your batch file output? We've got your back! In this exciting blog post, we

Matheus Mello
Matheus Mello
Cover Image for How do I run Redis on Windows?

How do I run Redis on Windows?

updated a few hours ago
rediswindows

# Running Redis on Windows: Easy Solutions for Redis Enthusiasts! šŸš€ Redis is a powerful and popular in-memory data structure store that offers blazing-fast performance and versatility. However, if you're a Windows user, you might have stumbled upon the c

Matheus Mello
Matheus Mello
Cover Image for Best way to strip punctuation from a string

Best way to strip punctuation from a string

updated a few hours ago
punctuationpythonstring

# The Art of Stripping Punctuation: Simplifying Your Strings šŸ’„āœ‚ļø Are you tired of dealing with pesky punctuation marks that cause chaos in your strings? Have no fear, for we have a solution that will strip those buggers away and leave your texts clean an

Matheus Mello
Matheus Mello
Cover Image for Purge or recreate a Ruby on Rails database

Purge or recreate a Ruby on Rails database

updated a few hours ago
rakeruby-on-railsruby-on-rails-3

# Purge or Recreate a Ruby on Rails Database: A Simple Guide šŸš€ So, you have a Ruby on Rails database that's full of data, and you're now considering deleting everything and starting from scratch. Should you purge the database or recreate it? šŸ¤” Well, my

Matheus Mello
Matheus Mello