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1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
2<!DOCTYPE library PUBLIC "-//Boost//DTD BoostBook XML V1.0//EN"
3"../../../tools/boostbook/dtd/boostbook.dtd">
4
5<!-- Copyright (c) 2005 CrystalClear Software, Inc.
6     Subject to the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
7     (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or  http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
8-->
9
10<section id="date_time.io_tutorial"
11  xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
12  <title>Date Time IO Tutorial</title>
13  <bridgehead renderas="sect2">Date Time IO Tutorial</bridgehead>
14
15  <link linkend="basic_use">Basic Use</link> |
16  <link linkend="format_strings">Format Strings</link> |
17  <link linkend="content_strings">Content Strings</link> |
18  <link linkend="tut_sv">Special Values</link> |
19  <link linkend="tut_dper">Date/Time Periods</link> |
20  <link linkend="tut_dgen">Date Generators</link>
21
22  <anchor id="basic_use" />
23  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Basic Use</bridgehead>
24  <para>Facets are automatically imbued when operators '>>' and '&lt;&lt;' are called. The list of date_time objects that can be streamed are:</para>
25  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Gregorian</bridgehead>
26  <para>
27    <code>date</code>,
28    <code>days</code>,
29    <code>date_period</code>,
30    <code>greg_month</code>,
31    <code>greg_weekday</code>,
32    <code>greg_year</code>,
33    <code>partial_date</code>,
34    <code>nth_day_of_the_week_in_month</code>,
35    <code>first_day_of_the_week_in_month</code>,
36    <code>last_day_of_the_week_in_month</code>,
37    <code>first_day_of_the_week_after</code>,
38    <code>first_day_of_the_week_before</code>
39  </para>
40  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Posix_time</bridgehead>
41  <para>
42    <code>ptime</code>,
43    <code>time_period</code>,
44    <code>time_duration</code>
45  </para>
46  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Local_time</bridgehead>
47  <para>
48    <code>local_date_time</code>
49  </para>
50
51  <para>
52    The following example is of the basic use of the new IO code, utilizing all the defaults. (this example can be found in the <code>libs/date_time/example/tutorial</code> directory)
53  </para>
54  <programlisting>
55    <![CDATA[
56  date d(2004, Feb, 29);
57  time_duration td(12,34,56,789);
58  stringstream ss;
59  ss << d << ' ' << td;
60  ptime pt(not_a_date_time);
61  cout << pt << endl; // "not-a-date-time"
62  ss >> pt;
63  cout << pt << endl; // "2004-Feb-29 12:34:56.000789"
64  ss.str("");
65  ss << pt << " EDT-05EDT,M4.1.0,M10.5.0";
66  local_date_time ldt(not_a_date_time);
67  ss >> ldt;
68  cout << ldt << endl; // "2004-Feb-29 12:34:56.000789 EDT"
69    ]]>
70  </programlisting>
71
72  <para>This example used the default settings for the input and output facets. The default formats are such that interoperability like that shown in the example is possible. NOTE: Input streaming of local_date_time can only be done with a <link linkend="date_time.local_time.posix_time_zone">posix time zone string</link>. The default output format uses a time zone abbreviation. The format can be changed so out and in match (as we will see later in this tutorial).</para>
73
74  <anchor id="format_strings" />
75  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Format Strings</bridgehead>
76  <para>The format strings control the order, type, and style of the date/time elements used. The facets provide some predefined formats (iso_format_specifier, iso_format_extended_specifier, and default_date_format) but the user can easily create their own.</para>
77  (continued from previous example)
78  <programlisting>
79    <![CDATA[
80  local_time_facet* output_facet = new local_time_facet();
81  local_time_input_facet* input_facet = new local_time_input_facet();
82  ss.imbue(locale(locale::classic(), output_facet));
83  ss.imbue(locale(ss.getloc(), input_facet));
84
85  output_facet->format("%a %b %d, %H:%M %z");
86  ss.str("");
87  ss << ldt;
88  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "Sun Feb 29, 12:34 EDT"
89
90  output_facet->format(local_time_facet::iso_time_format_specifier);
91  ss.str("");
92  ss << ldt;
93  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "20040229T123456.000789-0500"
94
95  output_facet->format(local_time_facet::iso_time_format_extended_specifier);
96  ss.str("");
97  ss << ldt;
98  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "2004-02-29 12:34:56.000789-05:00"
99    ]]>
100  </programlisting>
101
102  <para>Format strings are not limited to date/time elements. Extra verbiage can be placed in a format string. NOTE: When extra verbiage is present in an input format, the data being input must also contain the exact verbiage.</para>
103  (continued from previous example)
104  <programlisting>
105    <![CDATA[
106  // extra words in format
107  string my_format("The extended ordinal time %Y-%jT%H:%M can also be \
108  represented as %A %B %d, %Y");
109  output_facet->format(my_format.c_str());
110  input_facet->format(my_format.c_str());
111  ss.str("");
112  ss << ldt;
113  cout << ss.str() << endl;
114
115  // matching extra words in input
116  ss.str("The extended ordinal time 2005-128T12:15 can also be \
117  represented as Sunday May 08, 2005");
118  ss >> ldt;
119  cout << ldt << endl;
120    ]]>
121  </programlisting>
122
123  <anchor id="content_strings" />
124  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Content Strings</bridgehead>
125  <para>So far we've shown how a user can achieve a great deal of customization with very little effort by using formats. Further customization can be achieved through user defined elements (ie strings). The elements that can be customized are: Special value names, month names, month abbreviations, weekday names, weekday abbreviations, delimiters of the date/time periods, and the phrase elements of the date_generators.</para>
126  <para>The default values for these are as follows:</para>
127  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Special values</bridgehead>
128  <para>
129    <code>not-a-date-time</code>,
130    <code>-infinity</code>,
131    <code>+infinity</code>,
132    <code>minimum-date-time</code>,
133    <code>maximum-date-time</code>
134  </para>
135  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Months</bridgehead>
136  <para>
137    <code>English calendar and three letter abbreviations</code>
138  </para>
139  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Weekdays</bridgehead>
140  <para>
141    <code>English calendar and three letter abbreviations</code>
142  </para>
143  <bridgehead renderas="sect5">Date generator phrase elements</bridgehead>
144  <para>
145    <code>first</code>,
146    <code>second</code>,
147    <code>third</code>,
148    <code>fourth</code>,
149    <code>fifth</code>,
150    <code>last</code>,
151    <code>before</code>,
152    <code>after</code>,
153    <code>of</code>
154  </para>
155  <para>NOTE: We've shown earlier that the components of a date/time representation can be re-ordered via the format string. This is not the case with date_generators. The elements themselves can be customized but their order cannot be changed.</para>
156
157  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Content Strings</bridgehead>
158  <para>To illustrate the customization possibilities we will use custom strings for months and weekdays (we will only use long names, is all lowercase, for this example).</para>
159  (continued from previous example)
160  <programlisting>
161    <![CDATA[
162  // set up the collections of custom strings.
163  // only the full names are altered for the sake of brevity
164  string month_names[12] = { "january", "february", "march",
165                             "april", "may", "june",
166                             "july", "august", "september",
167                             "october", "november", "december" };
168  vector<string> long_months(&month_names[0], &month_names[12]);
169  string day_names[7] = { "sunday", "monday", "tuesday", "wednesday",
170                          "thursday", "friday", "saturday" };
171  vector<string> long_days(&day_names[0], &day_names[7]);
172
173  //  create date_facet and date_input_facet using all defaults
174  date_facet* date_output = new date_facet();
175  date_input_facet* date_input = new date_input_facet();
176  ss.imbue(locale(ss.getloc(), date_output));
177  ss.imbue(locale(ss.getloc(), date_input));
178
179  // replace names in the output facet
180  date_output->long_month_names(long_months);
181  date_output->long_weekday_names(long_days);
182
183  // replace names in the input facet
184  date_input->long_month_names(long_months);
185  date_input->long_weekday_names(long_days);
186
187  // customize month, weekday and date formats
188  date_output->format("%Y-%B-%d");
189  date_input->format("%Y-%B-%d");
190  date_output->month_format("%B"); // full name
191  date_input->month_format("%B"); // full name
192  date_output->weekday_format("%A"); // full name
193  date_input->weekday_format("%A"); // full name
194
195  ss.str("");
196  ss << greg_month(3);
197  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "march"
198  ss.str("");
199  ss << greg_weekday(3);
200  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "tuesday"
201  ss.str("");
202  ss << date(2005,Jul,4);
203  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "2005-july-04"
204    ]]>
205  </programlisting>
206
207
208  <anchor id="tut_sv" />
209  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Special Values</bridgehead>
210  <para>Customizing the input and output of special values is best done by creating a new special_values_parser and special_values_formatter. The new strings can be set at construction time (as in the example below).</para>
211  (continued from previous example)
212  <programlisting>
213    <![CDATA[
214  // reset the formats to defaults
215  output_facet->format(local_time_facet::default_time_format);
216  input_facet->format(local_time_input_facet::default_time_input_format);
217
218  // create custom special_values parser and formatter objects
219  // and add them to the facets
220  string sv[5] = {"nadt","neg_inf", "pos_inf", "min_dt", "max_dt" };
221  vector<string> sv_names(&sv[0], &sv[5]);
222  special_values_parser sv_parser(sv_names.begin(), sv_names.end());
223  special_values_formatter sv_formatter(sv_names.begin(), sv_names.end());
224  output_facet->special_values_formatter(sv_formatter);
225  input_facet->special_values_parser(sv_parser);
226
227  ss.str("");
228  ldt = local_date_time(not_a_date_time);
229  ss << ldt;
230  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "nadt"
231
232  ss.str("min_dt");
233  ss >> ldt;
234  ss.str("");
235  ss << ldt;
236  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "1400-Jan-01 00:00:00 UTC"
237    ]]>
238  </programlisting>
239  <para>NOTE: even though we sent in strings for min and max to the formatter, they are ignored because those special values construct to actual dates (as shown above).</para>
240
241
242  <anchor id="tut_dper" />
243  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Date/Time Periods</bridgehead>
244  <para>Customizing the input and output of periods is best done by creating a new period_parser and period_formatter. The new strings can be set at construction time (as in the example below).</para>
245  (continued from previous example)
246  <programlisting>
247    <![CDATA[
248  // all formats set back to defaults (not shown for brevity)
249
250  // create our date_period
251  date_period dp(date(2005,Mar,1), days(31)); // month of march
252
253  // custom period formatter and parser
254  period_formatter per_formatter(period_formatter::AS_OPEN_RANGE,
255                                 " to ", "from ", " exclusive", " inclusive" );
256  period_parser per_parser(period_parser::AS_OPEN_RANGE,
257                           " to ", "from ", " exclusive" , "inclusive" );
258
259  // default output
260  ss.str("");
261  ss << dp;
262  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "[2005-Mar-01/2005-Mar-31]"
263
264  // add out custom parser and formatter to  the facets
265  date_output->period_formatter(per_formatter);
266  date_input->period_parser(per_parser);
267
268  // custom output
269  ss.str("");
270  ss << dp;
271  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "from 2005-Feb-01 to 2005-Apr-01 exclusive"
272    ]]>
273  </programlisting>
274
275  <anchor id="tut_dgen" />
276  <bridgehead renderas="sect4">Date Generators</bridgehead>
277  <para>Customizing the input and output of date_generators is done by replacing the existing strings (in the facet) with new strings.</para>
278  <para>NOTE: We've shown earlier that the components of a date/time representation can be re-ordered via the format string. This is not the case with date_generators. The elements themselves can be customized but their order cannot be changed.</para>
279  (continued from previous example)
280  <programlisting>
281    <![CDATA[
282  // custom date_generator phrases
283  string dg_phrases[9] = { "1st", "2nd", "3rd", "4th", "5th",
284                           "final", "prior to", "following", "in" };
285  vector<string> phrases(&dg_phrases[0], &dg_phrases[9]);
286
287  // create our date_generator
288  first_day_of_the_week_before d_gen(Monday);
289
290  // default output
291  ss.str("");
292  ss << d_gen;
293  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "Mon before"
294
295  // add our custom strings to the date facets
296  date_output->date_gen_phrase_strings(phrases);
297  date_input->date_gen_element_strings(phrases);
298
299  // custom output
300  ss.str("");
301  ss << d_gen;
302  cout << ss.str() << endl; // "Mon prior to"
303    ]]>
304  </programlisting>
305
306</section>
307