standard_date_time: Obtain a standard datetime format that works across locales

Description

The standard_date_time() function can be invoked in the format argument of the fdt() function to help generate a locale-specific formatting string of a certain 'type' of formatted datetime. The type value is a keyword that represents precision and verbosity; the available keywords are "short" (the default), "medium", "long", and "full".

Usage

standard_date_time(type = c("short", "medium", "long", "full"))

Value

A vector of class date_time_pattern.

Arguments

type: One of four standardized types for the resulting datetime that range in precision and verbosity. These are "short" (the default), "medium", "long", and "full".

Examples

With an input datetime of "2018-07-04 22:05(America/Vancouver)", we can format the date and time in a standardized way with standard_date_time() providing the correct formatting string. This function is invoked in the format argument of fdt():

fdt(
  input = "2018-07-04 22:05(America/Vancouver)",
  format = standard_date_time(type = "full")
)

#> [1] "Wednesday, July 4, 2018 at 10:05:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time"

The locale can be changed and we don't have to worry about the particulars of the formatting string (they are standardized across locales).

fdt(
  input = "2018-07-04 22:05(America/Vancouver)",
  format = standard_date_time(type = "full"),
  locale = fdt_locales_lst$nl
)

#> [1] "woensdag 4 juli 2018 om 22:05:00 Pacific-zomertijd"

We can use different type values to control the output datetime string. The default is "short".

fdt(
  input = "2018-07-04 22:05(America/Vancouver)",
  format = standard_date_time()
)

#> [1] "7/4/18, 10:05 PM"

After that, it's "medium":

fdt(
  input = "2018-07-04 22:05(America/Vancouver)",
  format = standard_date_time(type = "medium")
)

#> [1] "Jul 4, 2018, 10:05:00 PM"

The "short" and "medium" types don't display time zone information in the output. Beginning with "long", the tz is shown.

fdt(
  input = "2018-07-04 22:05(America/Vancouver)",
  format = standard_date_time(type = "long")
)

#> [1] "July 4, 2018 at 10:05:00 PM PDT"

If you don't include time zone information in the input, the "UTC" time zone will be assumed:

fdt(
  input = "2018-07-04 22:05",
  format = standard_date_time(type = "full")
)

#> [1] "Wednesday, July 4, 2018 at 10:05:00 PM GMT+00:00"