[OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
Adam Peller
apeller at us.ibm.com
Thu Aug 20 13:08:20 PDT 2009
those formats generally are not guaranteed to work in Date constructors in
Javascript cross browser. IIRC, there is no string argument specification
guaranteed to work across implementations until ES5 which allows ISO-style,
but the Date constructor with an explicit arg list is specified, so I'd
think that would be the right way to go. I'd really hate to see a date
format shim used for the common case of Javascript date construction.
Kin Blas
<jblas at adobe.com>
Sent by: To
ide-bounces at opena "ide at openajax.org"
jax.org <ide at openajax.org>
cc
08/20/2009 02:26 Subject
PM Re: [OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
If we go with the declarative approach (using PHP variables in these
examples):
<property name=”mindate” datatype=”Date” format=”date”
formatString=”m/d/Y” />:
would result in:
08/12/2009
being written out. If you want a date object, you could specify a different
format that made use of the RFC 2822 format:
<property name=”mindate” datatype=”Date” format=”date” formatString=”new
Date(‘r’)” />
Which would result in:
new Date(‘Wed, 12 Aug 2000 00:00:00 +0200’)
or the ISO 8601 format:
<property name=”mindate” datatype=”Date” format=”date” formatString=”new
Date(‘c’)” />
Which would result in:
new Date(‘2009-08-12T00:00:00+00:00’)
Of course we would have to choose a default formatString value to use in
case it isn’t specified.
--== Kin ==--
From: Bertrand Le Roy [mailto:Bertrand.Le.Roy at microsoft.com]
Sent:: Thursday, August 20, 2009 11:16 AM
To: Kin Blas; ide at openajax.org
Subject:; RE: [OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
If IDEs are going to generate code from the metadata this way:
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({
mindate:” 08/12/2009”,
maxdate: ” 08/19/2009”,
selected: ” 08/12/2009”,
pagedate: ” 08/12/2009”,
});
</script>
Is there also a possibility to generate an actual JavaScript Date object
instead of a string representation?
From: ide-bounces at openajax.org [mailto:ide-bounces at openajax.org] On Behalf
Of Kin Blas
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 11:05 AM
To: ide at openajax.org
Subject: Re: [OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
Actually, you can’t declare the function in the same <javascript> block as
the constructor. If you do, a copy of that function will be inserted into
the document for each instance of the widget that is inserted into the
document. You would have to use an inline <require> so that only one
instance is ever added to the file:
<require type=”javascript”>
<![CDATA[
function yuiFormat(d){return mdate.getMonth()+"/"+mdate.getDay
()+"/"+mdate.getFullYear(); }
]]>
</require>
…
<property name='mindate' datatype='Date' format='date'/>
<property name='maxdate' datatype='Date' format='date'/>
<property name='selected' datatype='Date' format='date'/>
<property name='pagedate' datatype='Date' format='date'/>
…
<javascript location="afterContent">
function yuiFormat(d){return mdate.getMonth()+"/"+mdate.getDay
()+"/"+mdate.getFullYear(); }
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({
mindate:yuiFormat(@@mindate@@),
maxdate:yuiFormat(@@maxdate@@),
selected:yuiFormat(@@selected@@),
pagedate:yuiFormat(@@patedate@@),
});
</javascript>
What this means though is that should you mix different widgets, that
happen to use dates, there is the potential for multiple formatting
functions being added to the user’s page.
So just to make sure we’re all on the same page here, what is the proposed
output format for the properties? Date objects with ints?
<head>
…
<script type=”text/javascript”>
function yuiFormat(d){return mdate.getMonth()+"/"+mdate.getDay
()+"/"+mdate.getFullYear(); }
</script>
…
</head>
<body>>
…
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({
mindate:yuiFormat(new Date(2009, 8, 12)),
maxdate:yuiFormat(new Date(2009, 8, 19)),
selected:yuiFormat(new Date(2009, 8, 12)),
pagedate:yuiFormat(new Date(2009, 8, 12)),
});
</script>
…);
</body>
Date objects with UTC strings?
<head>
…
<script type=”text/javascript”>
function yuiFormat(d){return mdate.getMonth()+"/"+mdate.getDay
()+"/"+mdate.getFullYear(); }
</script>
…
</head>
<body>>
…
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({
mindate:yuiFormat(new Date(“Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:35:00 GMT”)),
maxdate:yuiFormat(new Date(“Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:59:59 GMT”)),
selected:yuiFormat(new Date(“Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:35:00 GMT”)),
pagedate:yuiFormat(new Date(“Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:35:00 GMT”)),
});
</script>
I’m not sure of the customer-base for other products currently making use
of these OAM widget files, but for Dreamweaver, some of our customers are
consultants/designers that care about the markup and code that is inserted
into their document. They care because it is a reflection on them, and in
some cases it affects how employable they are.
The last code snippet above seems a bit bloated/wasteful since you are
going from one string date format, into the native date format, only to go
back to a string format, that *may* eventually end up being converted into
a native Date format internally by the widget. This really makes the
user/designer look like they don’t know what they are doing.
It is much tighter/cleaner to generate code that looks like this:
<script type=”text/javascript”>
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({
mindate:” 08/12/2009”,
maxdate: ” 08/19/2009”,
selected: ” 08/12/2009”,
pagedate: ” 08/12/2009”,
});
</script>
which is expected/supported by the widget, then to generate extra code that
the IDE and user will have to manage. Also note that so far we’ve been
making an explicit assumption that the value of the date property we are
talking about is going to be used within JavaScript, when the reality is
that it could also potentially be used within markup, which is a case where
writing out “new Date (blah)” just doesn’t make sense.
While I agree that in an ideal world, everyone would be using the same date
format or Date objects in their APIs … it would make life for all of us
easier … the reality is that we are just not there yet.
--== Kin ==--
From: ide-bounces at openajax.org [mailto:ide-bounces at openajax.org] On Behalf
Of Adam Peller
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2009 9:03 AM
To: Jon Ferraiolo
Cc: ide at openajax.org
Subject: Re: [OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
alternatively:
<property name='mindate' datatype='Date' format='date'/>
<javascript location="afterContent">
function yuiFormat(d){return mdate.getMonth()+"/"+mdate.getDay
()+"/"+mdate.getFullYear(); }
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({...mindate:yuiFormat
(@@mindate@@)...});
</javascript>
which I think reads pretty well. One open issue is whether we'd be dealing
with UTC or local time once the substitutions take place. I suspect we'll
have to work in UTC to be consistent. (Granted, it's a JS gotcha, but we're
not out to eliminate all of those)
Inactive hide details for Jon Ferraiolo---08/20/2009 11:17:08 AM---If we
add another attribute, its name should reflect that thJon
Ferraiolo---08/20/2009 11:17:08 AM---If we add another attribute, its name
should reflect that the attribute only applies to formatting dates versus
other datatypes
Jon
Ferraiolo/Menl
o
Park/IBM at IBMUS
To
Sent by:
ide-bounces at op "ide at openajax.org"
enajax.org <ide at openajax.org>
cc
08/20/2009
10:56 AM
Subject
Re: [OpenAjaxIDE]
date formatting
If we add another attribute, its name should reflect that the attribute
only applies to formatting dates versus other datatypes. Therefore, instead
of 'formatString', the attribute should be named something like
'formatDate', 'dateFormat' or 'dateResultFormat'. (The latter one is long,
but re-inforces that we are formatting on the property editor result rather
than the input value that is given the property editor.)
But like Adam I would like to see side-by-side comparisons of how the OAM
file would look if we added a new attribute versus pushing this feature
into something that has to be done via JavaScript. I'll take a crack at it.
With a 'dateResultFormat' attribute:
<property name='mindate' datatype='String' format='date'
dateResultFormat='MM/DD/YYYY'/>
<javascript location="afterContent">
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({...mindate:@@mindate@@...});
</javascript>
Without a 'dateResultFormat' attribute:
<property name='mindate' datatype='Date' format='date'/>
<javascript location="afterContent">
var mdate = @@mindate@@;
var mdate_string = mdate.getMonth()+"/"+mdate.getDay
()+"/"+mdate.getFullYear();
var calwidget = new YAHOO.whatever.calendar({...mindate:mdate_string...});
</javascript>
Jon
Inactive hide details for Lori Hylan-Cho ---08/19/2009 10:41:14 PM---I
agree with Kin that we shouldn't make widget developers Lori Hylan-Cho
---08/19/2009 10:41:14 PM---I agree with Kin that we shouldn't make widget
developers (or oam.xml file writers, who may not be
From: Lori Hylan-Cho <avocadoh at gmail.com>
To: Jon Ferraiolo/Menlo Park/IBM at IBMUS
Cc: Kin Blas <jblas at adobe.com>, "ide at openajax.org"
<ide at openajax.org>
Date: 08/19/2009 10:41 PM
Subject: Re: [OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
I agree with Kin that we shouldn't make widget developers (or oam.xml file
writers, who may not be the same people) write extra JS when we can include
a declarative format in the spec.
I agree with Jon and Scott that a separate attribute for the format string
should be used for the reason Jon outlined.
As regards encouraging bad coding practices, I'd rather recognize reality
and give dev tools a chance to support it than try to get everyone to
conform to an ideal.
Lori
[brevity brought to you by iPhone.]
On Aug 19, 2009, at 9:55 PM, Jon Ferraiolo <jferrai at us.ibm.com> wrote:
After thinking about things, I don't like either of
the following:
format="d/m/Y"
or
format="date(d/m/Y)"
The 'format' attribute tells the tool what type of
special editor to display within the property
editor in order for the user to enter a value. For
example, a tool might provide a calendar widget to
edit a property that has format="date", a clock
dial widget to edit a property that has
format="time", and a color picker widget to edit a
property that has format="color". I don't think we
want to try to co-mingle the formatting
instructions into the same attribute that provides
a hint about which editor widget to use within the
property editor UI.
If we are going to offer date formatting, I think
an additional attribute such as what Scott has
proposed is the way to go.
Regarding whether we should include this feature or
not, I won't object if the majority think this is a
necessary feature for version 1.0, but at the
moment I'm not sold that this is an appropriate
feature for the spec. Two things worry me:
(1) So far, I haven't seen any JavaScript-free OAM
files for OAM files that wrap widgets from Ajax
toolkits. If OAM authors need to resort to
JavaScript anyway, then for the YUI calendar widget
(and similar calendar widgets), the widget
developer working on the calendar widget can figure
out how to format the date values (perhaps by
including Steve's 40 lines of JavaScript within
that particular widget)
(2) I'm not sure that it is compelling easier for a
widget developer to discover and learn how to use
the 'formatString' attribute versus writing a
little JavaScript to create the appropriate string
before calling the constructor.
But nevertheless, if the majority want this
feature, I'm OK with adding it as Scott proposes
below.
Jon
<graycol.gif>Kin Blas ---08/19/2009 03:21:31
PM---For the datatype="Date" there are 2 supported
format values, "date" and "time": <property
name="myDa
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by:
For the datatype=”Date” there are 2 supported
format values, “date” and “time”:
<property name=”myDate” datatype=”Date”
format=”date” />
<property name=”myTime” datatype=”Date”
format=”time” />
Rather than introducing another attribute, as
proposed in Scott’s example. Why not just leverage
the existing @format attribute in conjunction with
the variables used by PHP:
http://us.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php.
The current proposed values for the Date @format
aren’t that useful in my opinion. So I envision
something like:
<property name=”myDate” datatype=”Date”
format=”d/m/Y” />
<property name=”myTime” datatype=”Date”
format=”g:i:s” />
Regarding Jon’s comment about being able to work
around this problem with additional code added to
the <javascript> or <content> sections … I really
feel that if we want this OAM format to be adopted
by the various frameworks and the industry, that we
need to make it drop-dead simple for them to
support their formats/patterns so they don’t have
to resort to writing extra-glue code to make up for
our in-flexibility.
--== Kin ==--
From: ide-bounces at openajax.org [
mailto:ide-bounces at openajax.org.] On Behalf Of
Scott Richards
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 3:00 PM
To: Steve Repetti; 'Jon Ferraiolo';
ide at openajax.org
Subject: Re: [OpenAjaxIDE] date formatting
I think a lightweight solution that supports a very
small set of legacy formats would be all we need.
Sounds like Steve’s 40+ lines of DateFormat code
could handle this.
I like a simple approach of adding an additional
formatString=”” attribute or maybe call it
formatPattern that enables you to format in the
value that is replaced using the @@variableName@@
notation in either the <javascript> or <content>
sections. Here is an example.
<property datatype=”date” format=”date”
formatString=”YYYY-MM-DD” />
where:
YYYY = four-digit year
MM = two-digit month (01=January, etc.)
DD = two-digit day of month (01 through 31)
hh = two digits of hour (00 through 23) (am/pm NOT
allowed)
mm = two digits of minute (00 through 59)
ss = two digits of second (00 through 59)
The formats from YUI Calendar takes Javascript Date
Object or a string formatted as “mm/yyyy” and
“mm/dd/yyyy”. The selected property can only be
specified with a string not a Javascript date
object and it does not support ISO 8601 format. See
this link
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/calendar/#config
Here is an example of how we could support YUI
Calendar date strings using formatString.
var cal1 = new YAHOO.widget.Calendar("cal1",
"cal1Container",
{ pagedate:"5/2007",
selected:"5/5/2007-5/27/2007" });
This would look like the following in the oam.xml
file:
<javascript>
var cal1 = new YAHOO.widget.Calendar("cal1",
"cal1Container",
{ pagedate:"@@pageDate@@",
selected:"@@selectDateStart@@-@@selectDateEnd@@" });
</javascript>
<property
name=”pageDate” datatype=”date” format=”date” formatString=”MM/YYYY” />
<property
name=” selectDateStart” datatype=”date” format=”date” formatString=”MM/DD/YYYY” />
<property
name=” selectDateEnd” datatype=”date” format=”date” formatString=”MM/DD/YYYY” />
Not sure if we should support dropping out leading
0’s, do we need to support this? We could do with
just M or D. But the YUI calendar works specifying
dates with or without leading 0’s. So this may be
unnecessary.
Here is the link for jQuery Date formats. They
support multiple formats including iso 8601. So
with could support it as follows:
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