Convert NSString to NSDate

[atothendrew]

I have the following code to convert an NSDate to an NSString, but the date keeps coming back as nil. Any ideas as to why?

NSDateFormatter *dateFormat = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
	[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"HH:mm a"];
	NSDate *intime = [dateFormat dateFromString:inTime_];

I need everything in the NSDate, even the AM/PM. Thats why i have the 'a' after HH:mm. Thanks guys

[BrianSlick]

nil return usually means that your string doesn't match the format. What is the string you are passing in?

[atothendrew]

im passing in a string called 'inTime_' I ran a debugger and its value is '7:55 PM'

Thanks for your help

[BrianSlick]

UTS #35: Locale Data Markup Language

Looks like H is for 24-hour clock, so AM/PM wouldn't apply. Not sure if that's the issue or not. Try h or hh.

[atothendrew]

Thanks for the reply. I checked that website and it seems like 'h:mm a' is what i need. But for some reason it still does not work.. Weird

[BrianSlick]

Add this:

NSLog(@"inTime_ is: %@", inTime_);

See what it says.

[atothendrew]

i get the following output : inTime_ is: 8:15 PM

[BrianSlick]

Ok, then this:

NSLog(@"intime is: %@", intime);

[atothendrew]

Wow. This is REALLY weird. the output is 'intime is: 1970-01-01 20:26:00 -0700'

i dont even know where to go from here.. im so confused

[BrianSlick]

How did you know it was nil in the first post?

[atothendrew]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

How did you know it was nil in the first post?

i debugged and dragged my mouse over the variable name and the pop up told me it was nil.

[BrianSlick]

So is something downstream not working?

I don't use the debugger very much, but I suppose it's possible you were getting the value of the variable before the dateFromString happened.

[atothendrew]

This does not make any sense.. i formatted it the way i needed too..

its supposed to come up as 'Hour:Minute PM'

[BrianSlick]

What? What are you expecting from an NSDate object?

[atothendrew]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

What? What are you expecting from an NSDate object?

well quite honestly i was going to convert this string "h:mm a" <-- what ever that would be, the user enters, into an nsdate and then convert that the hours and minutes into doubles.

[BrianSlick]

Well, you have the date object now. For getting your doubles, look into NSDateComponents.

[atothendrew]

sweet. Thanks alot for your help

[atothendrew]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

What? What are you expecting from an NSDate object?

One last thing. I looked into it and found what i needed.

NSDateFormatter *dateFormat = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
	[dateFormat setDateStyle:NSDateFormatterNoStyle];
	[dateFormat setTimeStyle:NSDateFormatterShortStyle];
	[dateFormat setDateFormat:@"h:mm a"];
	NSDate *intime = [dateFormat dateFromString:inTime_];   
	NSLog(@"intime is: %@", intime);
	NSLog(@"inTime_ is: %@", inTime_);
	
	NSCalendar *calendar= [[NSCalendar alloc] initWithCalendarIdentifier:NSGregorianCalendar];
	NSCalendarUnit unitFlags = NSYearCalendarUnit | NSMonthCalendarUnit | NSDayCalendarUnit | NSHourCalendarUnit | NSMinuteCalendarUnit | NSSecondCalendarUnit;
	NSDateComponents *dateComponents = [calendar components:unitFlags fromDate:intime];
	
    
	
	double inHour = [dateComponents hour];
	double inMin = [dateComponents minute];
	
	NSLog(@"inTime Hours is: %@", inHour);

That last NSLog = inTime Hours is: (null)

I did everything like how i did in other programs. Man this thing is a headache.

[BrianSlick]

%@ is for objects. You want %f.

And really, those could be integers. In which case, %d.

[atothendrew]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

%@ is for objects. You want %f.

And really, those could be integers. In which case, %d.

Of course.. I don't know what i was thinking. I'm exhausted. Thanks alot again. You rock. Ill definitely check out your app!