standard_time: Obtain a standard time format that works across locales

Description

The standard_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 time. The type value is a keyword that represents precision and verbosity; the available keywords are "short" (the default), "medium", "long", and "full".

Usage

standard_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 time 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 as a time in a standardized way with standard_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_time(type = "full")
)

#> [1] "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_time(type = "full"),
  locale = fdt_locales_lst$nl
)

#> [1] "22:05:00 Pacific-zomertijd"

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

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

#> [1] "10:05 PM"

After that, it's "medium":

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

#> [1] "10:05:00 PM"

Then, "long":

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

#> [1] "10:05:00 PM PDT"

And finally up to "full", which was demonstrated in the first example.