Parsing dates using localtimezone to date object in javascript

Question

I want to parse a date into a javascript date object. I am using the following

new Date(Date.parse('2012-08-01'))

The problem is my input date can be in multiple formats and parsing it should always give me the date object with the date as

2012-08-01 00:00:00

in local timezone.

What are possible options in javascript without using any third party libraries ?

I have a possible solution. But my concern is should i be worried that this will not work in certain android/iphone/kindle/surface native browsers?

var timezone = new Date().toString().match(/([A-Z]+[\+-][0-9]+)/)[1];
var dateObject = new Date(Date.parse('2012-08-01 '+timezone));

when you say no 3rd party libraries, are you talking about JS framework agnosticism? (ie no jQuery/mooTools etc.) or not even working with vanilla JS libraries? — haxxxton
– haxxxton, Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 5:15
specifically mooTools...I use Jquery in my app, but dont want to add more dependencies. native javascript is ok. What are you referring to when u say vanialla JS libraries? — Whimsical
– Whimsical, Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 5:17
Jacob Wright created this JS version of PHP's date format abilities that just uses plain JS (aka vanilla JS) jacwright.com/projects/javascript/date_format this might be a step in the right direction in terms of formatting and updating for local timezone, couple that with something like var tz = -(new Date().getTimezoneOffset()*60); // user timezone offset returned in sec and you should be pretty sorted — haxxxton
– haxxxton, Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 5:24

Matt Johnson-Pint · Accepted Answer · 2014-06-05 21:33:50Z

1

Replace the dashes with forward slashes and it will use the local time. Be sure to use yyyy/mm/dd ordering if you want it to work everywhere.

You also do not need to explicitly call Date.parse. The Date constructor will do that when you pass a string.

new Date('2012/08/01')  // local
new Date('2012-08-01')  // UTC

Yes, JavaScript is weird.

answered Jun 5, 2014 at 21:33

Matt Johnson-Pint

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