macOS formatting date returns (null)

johnmerlino · Dec 4, 2011

Hey all,

I have a date stored in a postgres database with a time data type. When I send it to objective-c, if I just put it in a field as is, then the field will contain this:

2011-05-10T09:49:00Z

I would like that to be formatted better, so I do this:

Code:

       NSDateFormatter *formatter;
        NSString        *dateString;
        NSDate *date = report.time;
        
        formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
        [formatter setDateFormat:@"dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm"];
        
        dateString = [formatter stringFromDate:date];
        
        timeTextField.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", dateString];

But when I do the above, it converts the date into (null).

thanks for response

chown33 · Dec 4, 2011

Apply basic debugging skills.
1. Break It Down.
2. Confirm Expectations.

Break It Down means breaking the problem into sub-problems. The conversion isn't monolithic; it consists of logical sub-parts. Each statement in your original code can have its result confirmed.

Confirm Expectations means testing whether report.time is a) non-nil, and b) of type NSDate.

Example code:

Code:

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

int main(int arcgc, char *argv[])
{
	NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];

	NSDate *date = [NSDate date];  // EXAMPLE ONLY: current date/time

	NSLog( @"date: %@, class: %@", date, NSStringFromClass( [date class] ) ); 

	[NSDateFormatter setDefaultFormatterBehavior: NSDateFormatterBehavior10_4];  // confirm desired behavior will result
	NSDateFormatter * f = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
	[f setDateFormat:@"dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm"];

	NSString * s = [f stringFromDate:date];
	NSLog( @"text: %@", s ); 
	
	[pool drain];
	return 0;
}

johnmerlino said:

The red-hilited code is redundant and unnecessary. dateString is already an immutable string. You don't need another copy of it. Use it as-is.

johnmerlino · Dec 7, 2011

thanks for response

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macOS formatting date returns (null)

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