1Date::Pcalc::Object(3)User Contributed Perl DocumentationDate::Pcalc::Object(3)
2
6 Date::Pcalc::Object - Object-oriented add-on for Date::Pcalc with
7 overloaded operators
8
10 Make frequent things easy and infrequent or hard things possible
11
13 Note that you do NOT need to ""use Date::Pcalc qw(...);"" in addition
14 to this module.
15 Simply
17 use Date::Pcalc::Object qw(...);
19 INSTEAD OF
21 use Date::Pcalc qw(...);
23 with the same ""qw(...)"" as you would with the "Date::Pcalc" module,
25 and then forget about "Date::Pcalc::Object" altogether.
26 The rest of your existing code doesn't change at all.
28 Note also that in order to create a new date object, you do not need to
30 use
31 $date_object = Date::Pcalc::Object->new(...);
33 (but you may), and should use
35 $date_object = Date::Pcalc->new(...);
37 instead (saves you some typing and is a trifle faster).
39
41 Export tags
42 :all - all functions from Date::Pcalc
43 :aux - auxiliary functions shift_*
44 :ALL - both :all and :aux
45 Functions
47 See Date::Pcalc(3) for a list of available functions.
48 $year = shift_year(\@_);
50 ($year,$mm,$dd) = shift_date(\@_);
51 ($hrs,$min,$sec) = shift_time(\@_);
52 ($year,$mm,$dd,$hrs,$min,$sec) = shift_datetime(\@_);
53 Methods
55 $old = Date::Pcalc->accurate_mode([FLAG]);
56 $old = Date::Pcalc->normalized_mode([FLAG]);
57 $old = Date::Pcalc->number_format([NUMBER|CODEREF]);
58 $old = Date::Pcalc->delta_format([NUMBER|CODEREF]); # global default
59 $old = Date::Pcalc->date_format([NUMBER|CODEREF]); # global default
60 $old = Date::Pcalc->language([LANGUAGE]); # global default - DEPRECATED
61 $old = $date->accurate_mode([FLAG]); # is global nevertheless!
63 $old = $date->normalized_mode([FLAG]); # is global nevertheless!
64 $old = $date->number_format([NUMBER|CODEREF]); # is global nevertheless!
65 $old = $date->delta_format([NUMBER|CODEREF]); # individual override
66 $old = $date->date_format([NUMBER|CODEREF]); # individual override
67 $old = $date->language([LANGUAGE]); # individual override
68 $flag = $date->is_delta();
70 $flag = $date->is_date();
71 $flag = $date->is_short(); # i.e., has no time part
72 $flag = $date->is_long(); # i.e., has time part
73 $flag = $date->is_valid();
74 $date = Date::Pcalc->new([TYPE]);
76 $date = Date::Pcalc->new([TYPE,]YEAR,MONTH,DAY[,HRS,MIN,SEC]);
77 $date = Date::Pcalc->new($arrayref);
78 $newdate = $somedate->new([TYPE]);
79 $newdate = $somedate->new([TYPE,]YEAR,MONTH,DAY[,HRS,MIN,SEC]);
80 $newdate = $somedate->new($arrayref);
81 $datecopy = $date->clone();
83 $targetdate->copy($sourcedate);
84 $targetdate->copy($arrayref);
85 $targetdate->copy(@list);
86 ($year,$month,$day) = $date->date([TYPE]);
88 ($year,$month,$day) = $date->date([TYPE,]YEAR,MONTH,DAY[,HRS,MIN,SEC]);
89 ($year,$month,$day) = $date->date($arrayref);
90 ([$hrs,$min,$sec]) = $date->time([TYPE]);
91 ($hrs,$min,$sec) = $date->time([TYPE,]HRS,MIN,SEC);
92 ([$hrs,$min,$sec]) = $date->time($arrayref);
93 ($year,$month,$day,$hrs,$min,$sec) =
95 $date->datetime([TYPE]);
96 ($year,$month,$day,$hrs,$min,$sec) =
97 $date->datetime([TYPE,]YEAR,MONTH,DAY[,HRS,MIN,SEC]);
98 $date = Date::Pcalc->today([FLAG]);
100 $date = Date::Pcalc->now([FLAG]); # shorthand for --+
101 $date = Date::Pcalc->today_and_now([FLAG]); # <-----+
102 $date = Date::Pcalc->gmtime([time]); # UTC/GMT
103 $date = Date::Pcalc->localtime([time]); # local time
104 $delta = Date::Pcalc->tzoffset([time]);
105 $date = Date::Pcalc->time2date([time]); # UTC/GMT
106 $date->today([FLAG]); # updates the date part only
108 $date->now([FLAG]); # updates the time part only
109 $date->today_and_now([FLAG]); # updates both date and time
110 $date->gmtime([time]); # updates both date and time (UTC/GMT)
111 $date->localtime([time]); # updates both date and time (local time)
112 $delta->tzoffset([time]); # updates both date and time
113 $date->time2date([time]); # updates both date and time (UTC/GMT)
114 $time = Date::Pcalc->mktime(); # same as "$time = CORE::time();"
116 $time = Date::Pcalc->date2time(); # same as "$time = CORE::time();"
117 $time = $date->mktime(); # converts into Unix time (local time)
119 $time = $date->date2time(); # converts into Unix time (UTC/GMT)
120 $year = $date->year([YEAR]);
122 $month = $date->month([MONTH]);
123 $day = $date->day([DAY]);
124 $hours = $date->hours([HRS]);
125 $minutes = $date->minutes([MIN]);
126 $seconds = $date->seconds([SEC]);
127 $number = $date->number([NUMBER|CODEREF]);
129 $string = $date->string([NUMBER|CODEREF][,LANGUAGE]);
130 $delta->normalize(); # renormalizes a delta vector
132 Overloaded Operators
134 #####################################################
135 # Scalar operands are always converted into a delta #
136 # vector with that many days, i.e., [1,0,0,SCALAR] #
137 #####################################################
138 Comparison Operators:
140 if ($date1 < $date2) { # compares date part only
141 if ($date1 <= $date2) { # compares date part only
142 if ($date1 > $date2) { # compares date part only
143 if ($date1 >= $date2) { # compares date part only
144 if ($date1 == $date2) { # compares date part only
145 if ($date1 != $date2) { # compares date part only
146 $comp = $date1 <=> $date2; # compares date part only
148 if ($date1 lt $date2) { # compares both date and time
150 if ($date1 le $date2) { # compares both date and time
151 if ($date1 gt $date2) { # compares both date and time
152 if ($date1 ge $date2) { # compares both date and time
153 if ($date1 eq $date2) { # compares both date and time
154 if ($date1 ne $date2) { # compares both date and time
155 $comp = $date1 cmp $date2; # compares both date and time
157 Note that you can of course also compare two deltas, but not a date and
159 a delta!
160 ##################################################
162 # Default TYPE for array refs in comparisons is: #
163 # Same as other operand #
164 ##################################################
165 if ([2000,4,1] == $date) {
167 if ($today > [2000,4,1]) {
168 if ($now ge [2000,3,26,2,0,0]) {
170 if ($delta == [18,0,0]) {
172 if ($delta == -1) {
173 Plus:
175 $date2 = $date1 + $delta;
176 $date2 = $delta + $date1;
177 $date += $delta;
178 $this = $date++;
179 $next = ++$date;
180 $delta3 = $delta1 + $delta2;
182 $delta1 += $delta2;
183 $delta += $date; # beware of implicit type change!
184 $delta++;
185 ++$delta;
186 #####################################################
188 # Default TYPE for array refs in '+' operations is: #
189 # Opposite of other operand #
190 #####################################################
191 $date2 = [2000,3,26] + $delta;
193 $date2 = $date1 + [+1,0,0];
194 $date2 = [0,0,-1] + $date1;
195 $date2 = $date1 + 1;
196 $date += [0,0,+1];
197 $date += 2;
198 $delta3 = [1,+1,0,-1] + $delta2;
200 $delta3 = $delta1 + [1,0,0,+1];
201 $delta3 = $delta1 + 1;
202 $delta += [1,0,+1,0];
203 $delta += [2000,3,26]; # beware of implicit type change!
204 $delta += 7;
205 Unary Minus:
207 $delta2 = -$delta1;
208 Minus:
210 $delta = $date2 - $date1;
211 $date2 = $date1 - $delta;
212 $date -= $delta;
213 $date2 -= $date1; # beware of implicit type change!
214 $this = $date--;
215 $prev = --$date;
216 $delta3 = $delta2 - $delta1;
218 $delta2 -= $delta1;
219 $delta--;
220 --$delta;
221 #####################################################
223 # Default TYPE for array refs in '-' operations is: #
224 # Always a date #
225 #####################################################
226 $delta = $today - [2000,3,26];
228 $delta = [2000,4,1] - $date;
229 $date2 = [2000,3,26] - $delta;
230 $date2 = $date1 - [1,0,0,+7];
231 $date2 = $date1 - 7;
232 $date -= [1,0,0,+1]; # better add [0,0,-1] instead!
233 $date2 -= [2000,3,26]; # beware of implicit type change!
234 $date2 -= 1;
235 $delta3 = [1,0,+1,0] - $delta1;
237 $delta3 = $delta2 - [1,0,0,-1];
238 $delta -= [1,0,0,+1];
239 $delta -= 7;
240 Miscellaneous Operators:
242 $string = "$date";
243 $string = "$delta";
244 print "$date\n";
246 print "$delta\n";
247 if ($date) { # date is valid
249 if ($delta) { # delta is valid
250 $days = abs($date);
252 $diff = abs($delta); # can be negative!
253 $diff = abs(abs($delta)); # always positive
255
257 · FLAG
258 "FLAG" is either 0 (for "false") or 1 (for "true").
260 In the case of ""accurate_mode()"" and ""normalized_mode()"", this
262 switches the corresponding mode on and off (see further below for an
263 explanation of what these are).
264 In the case of ""today()"", ""now()"" and ""today_and_now()"", a
266 "true" value indicates "GMT" (Greenwich Mean Time), as opposed to
267 local time, which is the default.
268 · NUMBER
270 "NUMBER" is a number between 0 and 2 (for "number_format()" and
272 "number()") or between 0 and 4 (for "delta_format()", "date_format()"
273 and "string()"), indicating which of the three/five predefined
274 formats, respectively, should be used for converting a date into
275 numeric representation (needed for comparing dates, for instance) or
276 string representation.
277 Format #0 is the default at startup and the simplest of all (and
279 should be fastest to calculate, too).
280 The string representation of dates in format #0 also has the
282 advantage of being sortable in chronological order (and of complying
283 with ISO 8601).
284 (The numeric formats are (trivially) always sortable in chronological
286 order of course.)
287 The other formats are (mostly) increasingly more sophisticated (in
289 terms of esthetics and computation time) with increasing number
290 (except for format #4):
291 Delta number formats (short):
293 0 13603
295 1 13603
296 2 13603
297 Delta string formats (short):
299 0 '+0+0+13603'
301 1 '+0 +0 +13603'
302 2 '+0Y +0M +13603D'
303 3 '+0 Y +0 M +13603 D'
304 4 '(0,0,13603)'
305 Date number formats (short):
307 0 20010401
309 1 730576
310 2 730576
311 Date string formats (short):
313 0 '20010401'
315 1 '01-Apr-2001'
316 2 'Sun 1-Apr-2001'
317 3 'Sunday, April 1st 2001'
318 4 '[2001,4,1]'
319 Delta number formats (long):
321 0 13603.012959
323 1 13603.012959
324 2 13603.0624884259
325 Delta string formats (long):
327 0 '+0+0+13603+1+29+59'
329 1 '+0 +0 +13603 +1 +29 +59'
330 2 '+0Y +0M +13603D +1h +29m +59s'
331 3 '+0 Y +0 M +13603 D +1 h +29 m +59 s'
332 4 '(0,0,13603,1,29,59)'
333 Date number formats (long):
335 0 20010401.082959
337 1 730576.082959
338 2 730576.354155093
339 Date string formats (long):
341 0 '20010401082959'
343 1 '01-Apr-2001 08:29:59'
344 2 'Sun 1-Apr-2001 08:29:59'
345 3 'Sunday, April 1st 2001 08:29:59'
346 4 '[2001,4,1,8,29,59]'
347 If a number outside of the permitted range is specified, or if the
349 value is not a code reference (see also the next section below for
350 more details), the default format #0 is used instead.
351 · CODEREF
353 "CODEREF" is the reference of a subroutine which can be passed to the
355 methods "number_format()", "delta_format()" and "date_format()" in
356 order to install a callback function which will be called
357 subsequently whenever a date (or delta) object needs to be
358 (implicitly) converted into a number or string.
359 This happens for instance when you compare two date objects, or when
361 you put a date object reference in a string between double quotes.
362 Such a "CODEREF" can also be passed to the methods "number()" and
364 "string()" for explicitly converting a date object as desired.
365 · LANGUAGE
367 "LANGUAGE" is either a number in the range "[1..Languages()]", or one
369 of the strings ""Language_to_Text(1..Languages())"" (see also
370 Date::Pcalc(3)).
371 · TYPE
373 "TYPE" is 0 for a regular date and 1 for a delta vector (a list of
375 year, month, day and optionally hours, minutes and seconds offsets).
376 · Storage
378 "Date::Pcalc" objects are implemented as two nested arrays.
380 The "blessed" array (whose reference is the object reference you
382 receive when calling the "new()" method) contains an anonymous array
383 at position zero and the object's data in its remaining fields.
384 The embedded anonymous array is used for storing the object's
386 attributes (flags).
387 Dates and delta vectors always comprise either 3 or 6 data values:
389 Year, month, day plus (optionally) hours, minutes and seconds.
390 These values are stored in the "blessed" array at positions 1..3 or
392 1..6, respectively.
393 An object without the time values is therefore called "short", and an
395 object having time values is called "long" throughout this manual.
396 Hint: Whenever possible, if you do not need the time values, omit
398 them, i.e., always use the "short" form of the object if possible,
399 this will speed up calculations a little (the short form uses
400 different (faster) functions for all calculations internally).
401 The embedded anonymous array contains various flags:
403 At position zero, it contains the "TYPE" indicator which determines
405 whether the object is a date or a delta vector.
406 At position 1, the object stores the "NUMBER" of one of the delta
408 vector formats, or the reference of a callback function which
409 converts the contents of the object into string representation if
410 it's a delta vector, or "undef" if the global settings apply.
411 At position 2, the object stores the "NUMBER" of one of the date
413 formats, or the reference of a callback function which converts the
414 contents of the object into string representation if it's a date, or
415 "undef" if the global settings apply.
416 At position 3, the object stores the "LANGUAGE" to be used for all
418 conversions into strings (where applicable), or "undef" if the global
419 language setting applies.
420 Note that your callback functions (see the section "Callback
422 Functions" further below for more details) should not pay attention
423 to this value at position 3, because they get a parameter which tells
424 them which language to use (this is necessary in order to allow
425 temporary overrides).
426 If your callback handlers use the "*_to_Text*" functions (or any
428 other language-dependent function) from the "Date::Pcalc" module,
429 your handlers should pass on this language parameter to these
430 functions (and not the value from position 3).
431 Be reminded though that you should NEVER access the object's internal
433 data directly, i.e., through their positional numbers, but ALWAYS
434 through their respective accessor methods, e.g.:
435 year()
437 month()
438 day()
439 hours()
440 minutes()
441 seconds()
442 date()
443 time()
444 datetime()
445 is_delta()
446 is_date()
447 is_short()
448 is_long()
449 delta_format()
450 date_format()
451 language()
452 And although position 4 and onward in the embedded anonymous array is
454 currently unused, it might not stay so in future releases of this
455 module.
456 Therefore, in case you need more attributes in a subclass of the
458 "Date::Pcalc[::Object]" class, I suggest using values starting at
459 positions a bit further up, e.g. 6, 8 or 10.
460 · Invalid Dates
462 Only "new()" allows to create objects containing possibly invalid
464 dates (needed for reading in and evaluating user input, for example).
465 · Usage
467 The methods
469 accurate_mode()
471 normalized_mode()
472 number_format()
473 delta_format()
474 date_format()
475 language()
476 date()
477 time()
478 datetime()
479 year()
480 month()
481 day()
482 hours()
483 minutes()
484 seconds()
485 are used for reading as well as for setting attributes. They simply
487 return the values in question if they are called without parameters.
488 The methods
490 accurate_mode()
492 normalized_mode()
493 number_format()
494 delta_format()
495 date_format()
496 language()
497 always return the previous value if a new value is set. This allows
499 you to change these values temporarily and to restore their old value
500 afterwards more easily (but you can also override the "format" and
501 "language" settings directly when calling the "number()" or
502 "string()" method).
503 The methods
505 date()
507 time()
508 datetime()
509 year()
510 month()
511 day()
512 hours()
513 minutes()
514 seconds()
515 always return the new values when the corresponding values have been
517 changed.
518 The method "date()" NEVER returns the time values (hours, minutes,
520 seconds) even if they have just been set using this method (which the
521 method optionally allows). Otherwise it would be very hard to predict
522 the exact number of values it returns, which might lead to errors
523 (wrong number of parameters) elsewhere in your program.
524 The method "datetime()" ALWAYS returns the time values (hours,
526 minutes, seconds) even if the object in question lacks a time part.
527 In that case, zeros are returned for hours, minutes and seconds
528 instead (but the stored time part is left unchanged, whether it
529 exists or not).
530 If you do not provide values for hours, minutes and seconds when
532 using the method "date()" to set the values for year, month and day,
533 the time part will not be changed (whether it exists or not).
534 If you do not provide values for hours, minutes and seconds when
536 using the method "datetime()" to set the values for year, month and
537 day, the time part will be filled with zeros (the time part will be
538 created if necessary).
539 If the object is short, i.e., if it does not have any time values,
541 the method "time()" returns an empty list.
542 If the object is short and the methods "hours()", "minutes()" or
544 "seconds()" are used to set any of these time values, the object is
545 automatically promoted to the "long" form, and the other two time
546 values are filled with zeros.
547 The following methods can also return "undef" under certain
549 circumstances:
550 delta_format()
552 date_format()
553 language()
554 is_delta()
555 is_date()
556 is_short()
557 is_long()
558 is_valid()
559 hours()
560 minutes()
561 seconds()
562 number()
563 string()
564 The methods "delta_format()", "date_format()" and "language()" return
566 "undef" when they are called as object methods and no individual
567 override has been defined for the object in question.
568 The "is_*()" predicate methods return "undef" if the object in
570 question does not have the expected internal structure. This can
571 happen for instance when you create an empty object with "new()".
572 When called without parameters, the methods "hours()", "minutes()"
574 and "seconds()" return "undef" if the object in question does not
575 have a time part.
576 The methods "number()" and "string()" return "undef" if the object in
578 question is not valid (i.e., if "is_valid()" returns "undef" or
579 false).
580 And finally, the methods
582 copy()
584 today()
585 now()
586 today_and_now()
587 gmtime()
588 localtime()
589 tzoffset()
590 time2date()
591 normalize()
592 return the object reference of the (target) object in question for
594 convenience.
595 · Import/Export
597 Note that you can import and export Unix "time" values using the
599 methods "gmtime()", "localtime()", "mktime()", "date2time()" and
600 "time2date()", both as local time or as UTC/GMT.
601 · Accurate Mode and Normalized Mode
603 The method "accurate_mode()" controls the internal flag which
605 determines which of two fundamental modes of operation is used.
606 When set to true (the default at startup), delta vectors are
608 calculated to give the exact difference in days between two dates.
609 The "year" and "month" entries in the resulting delta vector are
610 always zero in that case.
611 If "accurate mode" is switched off (when the corresponding flag is
613 set to false), delta vectors are calculated with year and month
614 differences.
615 E.g., the difference between "[1999,12,6]" and "[2000,6,24]" is "[+0
617 +0 +201]" (plus 201 days) in accurate mode and "[+1 -6 +18]" (plus
618 one year, minus 6 months, plus 18 days) when accurate mode is
619 switched off, and is "[+0 +6 +18]" (plus 6 months, plus 18 days) if
620 additionally, "normalized mode" is switched on.
621 The delta vector is calculated by simply taking the difference in
623 years, the difference in months and the difference in days (if
624 "accurate mode" is switched off and if "normalized mode" has not been
625 switched on). This is called "one-by-one" semantics or "year-month-
626 day mode"; "YMD mode" for short.
627 When "normalized mode" is switched on (while "accurate mode" is
629 switched off), the delta vector is calculated in a more complex way
630 involving the functions ""Add_Delta_YM()"" (for "truncation") and
631 ""Delta_Days()"".
632 Moreover, the result is normalized, i.e., the return values are
634 guaranteed to all have the same sign (or to be zero), and to all be
635 "minimal", i.e., not to exceed the ranges "[-11..+11]" for months,
636 "[-30..+30]" for days, "[-23..+23]" for hours and "[-59..+59]" for
637 minutes and seconds.
638 The rule is to add these result values to a date in a left-to-right
640 order, and to truncate invalid intermediate dates, such as e.g.
641 "[2009,2,29]", to the last valid day of that same month, e.g.
642 "[2009,2,28]". This is called "left-to-right with truncation"
643 semantics or "normalized mode"; "N_YMD mode" for short.
644 The method "normalized_mode()" controls the internal flag which
646 determines whether "YMD mode" is used (the default at startup, for
647 reasons of backward compatibility) or "N_YMD mode".
648 Note that also for reasons of backward compatibility, this flag only
650 has effect when "accurate mode" is switched off.
651 Both flags can be set and reset independently from each other,
653 however.
654 Therefore, at startup, you can for instance switch "normalized mode"
656 on, without having any immediate effect, and switch off "accurate
657 mode" later, which instantly also causes "normalized mode" to spring
658 into effect.
659 Because years and months have varying lengths in terms of days, the
661 "YMD" and "N_YMD" modes are less accurate than "accurate mode",
662 because these modes depend on the context of the two dates of which
663 the delta vector is the difference. Added to a different date, a
664 delta vector calculated in "YMD mode" or "N_YMD mode" may yield a
665 different offset in terms of days, i.e., the final result may
666 sometimes vary seemingly unpredictably (or in other situations may
667 give you the expected result, at the expense of actually representing
668 a varying difference in days, determined exclusively by context).
669 Beware also that - for the same reason - the absolute value
671 (""abs()"") of a delta vector returns a fictitious number of days if
672 the delta vector contains non-zero values for "year" and/or "month"
673 (see also the next section "Absolute Value" below for more details).
674 Example:
676 The difference between "[2000,1,1]" and "[2000,3,1]" is "[+0 +0 +60]"
678 in "accurate mode" and "[+0 +2 +0]" in "YMD mode" (in this "benign"
679 example, the result is the same in "YMD mode" and in "N_YMD mode").
680 When added to the date "[2000,4,1]", the "accurate" delta vector
682 yields the date "[2000,5,31]", whereas the "YMD mode" delta vector
683 yields the date "[2000,6,1]" (which is actually a difference of 61
684 days).
685 Moreover, when added to the date "[1999,1,1]", the "accurate" delta
687 vector yields the date "[1999,3,2]", whereas the "inaccurate" "YMD
688 Mode" delta vector yields the date "[1999,3,1]" (which is actually a
689 difference of 59 days).
690 Depending on what you want, either mode may suit you better.
692 · Absolute Value
694 Note that ""abs($date)"" and ""abs($delta)"" are just shorthands for
696 ""$date->number()"" and ""$delta->number()"".
697 The operator ""abs()"", when applied to a date or delta vector,
699 returns the corresponding number of days (see below for an exception
700 to this), with the time part (if available) represented by a fraction
701 after the decimal point.
702 In the case of dates, the absolute value (to the left of the decimal
704 point) is the number of days since the 1st of January 1 A.D. (by
705 extrapolating the Gregorian calendar back beyond its "natural" limit
706 of 1582 A.D.) PLUS ONE.
707 (I.e., the absolute value of the 1st of January 1 A.D. is 1.)
709 Exception:
711 If the "NUMBER" or "number_format()" is set to 0 (the default
713 setting), the absolute value of a date to the left of the decimal
714 point is "yyyymmdd", i.e., the number in which the uppermost four
715 digits correspond to the year, the next lower two digits to the month
716 and the lowermost two digits to the day.
717 In the case of delta vectors, the absolute value (to the left of the
719 decimal point) is simply the difference in days (but see also below).
720 Note that the absolute value of a delta vector can be negative!
722 If you want a positive value in all cases, apply the ""abs()""
724 operator again, i.e., ""$posdiff = abs(abs($delta));"".
725 If the delta vector contains non-zero values for "year" and/or
727 "month" (see also the discussion of "Accurate Mode" in the section
728 above), an exact representation in days cannot be calculated, because
729 years and months do not have fixed equivalents in days.
730 If nevertheless you attempt to calculate the absolute value of such a
732 delta vector, a fictitious value is returned, which is calculated by
733 simply multiplying the year difference with 12, adding the month
734 difference, multiplying this sum with 31 and finally adding the day
735 difference.
736 Beware that because of this, the absolute values of delta vectors are
738 not necessarily contiguous.
739 Moreover, since there is more than one way to express the difference
741 between two dates, comparisons of delta vectors may not always yield
742 the expected result.
743 Example:
745 The difference between the two dates "[2000,4,30]" and "[2001,5,1]"
747 can be expressed as "[+1 +1 -29]", or as "[+1 +0 +1]".
748 The first delta vector has an absolute value of 374, whereas the
750 latter delta vector has an absolute value of only 373 (while the true
751 difference in days between the two dates is 366).
752 If the date or delta vector has a time part, the time is returned as
754 a fraction of a full day after the decimal point as follows:
755 If the "NUMBER" or "number_format()" is set to 0 (the default
757 setting) or 1, this fraction is simply ".hhmmss", i.e., the two
758 digits after the decimal point represent the hours, the next two
759 digits the minutes and the last two digits the seconds.
760 Note that you cannot simply add and subtract these values to yield
762 meaningful dates or deltas again, you can only use them for
763 comparisons (equal, not equal, less than, greater than, etc.). If you
764 want to add/subtract, read on:
765 Only when the "NUMBER" or "number_format()" is set to 2, this
767 fraction will be the equivalent number of seconds (i.e., "(((hours *
768 60) + minutes) * 60) + seconds") divided by the number of seconds in
769 a full day (i.e., "24*60*60 = 86400"), or "0/86400", "1/86400", ... ,
770 "86399/86400".
771 In other words, the (mathematically correct) fraction of a day.
773 You can safely perform arithmetics with these values as far as the
775 internal precision of your vendor's implementation of the C run-time
776 library (on which Perl depends) will permit.
777 · Renormalizing Delta Vectors
779 When adding or subtracting delta vectors to/from one another, the
781 addition or subtraction takes place component by component.
782 Example:
784 [+0 +0 +0 +3 +29 +50] + [+0 +0 +0 +0 +55 +5] = [+0 +0 +0 +3 +84 +55]
786 [+0 +0 +0 +3 +29 +50] - [+0 +0 +0 +0 +55 +5] = [+0 +0 +0 +3 -26 +45]
787 This may result in time values outside the usual ranges ("[-23..+23]"
789 for hours and "[-59..+59]" for minutes and seconds).
790 Note that even though the delta value for days will often become
792 quite large, it is impossible to renormalize this value because there
793 is no constant conversion factor from days to months (should it be
794 28, 29, 30 or 31?).
795 If accurate mode (see further above for what that is) is switched
797 off, delta vectors can also contain non-zero values for years and
798 months. If you add or subtract these, the value for months can lie
799 outside the range "[-11..11]", which isn't wrong, but may seem funny.
800 Therefore, the "normalize()" method will also renormalize the
802 "months" value, if and only if accurate mode has been switched off.
803 (!)
804 (Hence, switch accurate mode ON temporarily if you DON'T want the
806 renormalization of the "months" value to happen.)
807 If you want to force the time values from the example above back into
809 their proper ranges, use the "normalize()" method as follows:
810 print "[$delta]\n";
812 $delta->normalize();
813 print "[$delta]\n";
814 This will print
816 [+0 +0 +0 +3 +84 +55]
818 [+0 +0 +0 +4 +24 +55]
819 for the first and
821 [+0 +0 +0 +3 -26 +45]
823 [+0 +0 +0 +2 +34 +45]
824 for the second delta vector from the example further above.
826 Note that the values for days, hours, minutes and seconds are
828 guaranteed to have the same sign after the renormalization.
829 Under "normal" circumstances, i.e., when accurate mode is on (the
831 default), this method only has an effect on the time part of the
832 delta vector.
833 If the delta vector in question does not have a time part, nothing
835 happens.
836 If accurate mode is off, the "months" value is also normalized, i.e.,
838 if it lies outside of the range "[-11..11]", integer multiples of 12
839 are added to the "years" value and subtracted from the "months"
840 value. Moreover, the "months" value is guaranteed to have the same
841 sign as the values for days, hours, minutes and seconds, unless the
842 "months" value is zero or the values for days, hours, minutes and
843 seconds are all zero.
844 If the object in question is a date and if warnings are enabled, the
846 message "normalizing a date is a no-op" will be printed to STDERR.
847 If the object in question is not a valid "Date::Pcalc" object,
849 nothing happens.
850 The method returns its object's reference, which allows chaining of
852 method calls, as in the following example:
853 @time = $delta->normalize()->time();
855 · Callback Functions
857 Note that you are not restricted to the built-in formats (numbered
859 from 0 to 2 for "number_format()" and "number()" and from 0 to 4 for
860 "delta_format()", "date_format()" and "string()") for converting a
861 date or delta object into a number or string.
862 You can also provide your own function(s) for doing so, in order to
864 suit your own taste or needs, by passing a subroutine reference to
865 the appropriate method, i.e., "number_format()", "number()",
866 "delta_format()", "date_format()" and "string()".
867 You can pass a handler to only one or more of these methods, or to
869 all of them, as you like. You can use different callback functions,
870 or the same for all.
871 In order to facilitate the latter, and in order to make the decoding
873 of the various cases easier for you, the callback function receives a
874 uniquely identifying function code as its second parameter:
875 0 = TO_NUMBER | IS_DATE | IS_SHORT (number[_format])
877 1 = TO_NUMBER | IS_DATE | IS_LONG (number[_format])
878 2 = TO_NUMBER | IS_DELTA | IS_SHORT (number[_format])
879 3 = TO_NUMBER | IS_DELTA | IS_LONG (number[_format])
880 4 = TO_STRING | IS_DATE | IS_SHORT (string|date_format)
881 5 = TO_STRING | IS_DATE | IS_LONG (string|date_format)
882 6 = TO_STRING | IS_DELTA | IS_SHORT (string|delta_format)
883 7 = TO_STRING | IS_DELTA | IS_LONG (string|delta_format)
884 The first parameter of the callback function is of course the
886 reference of the object in question itself (therefore, the callback
887 function can actually be an object method - but not a class method,
888 for obvious reasons).
889 The third parameter is the number of the language (in the range
891 "[1..Languages()]") which you should always pass along when using any
892 of the following functions from the "Date::Pcalc" module in your
893 handler:
894 "Decode_Month()", "Decode_Day_of_Week()", "Compressed_to_Text()",
896 "Date_to_Text()", "Date_to_Text_Long()", "Calendar()",
897 "Month_to_Text()", "Day_of_Week_to_Text()",
898 "Day_of_Week_Abbreviation()", "Decode_Date_EU()", "Decode_Date_US()",
899 "Decode_Date_EU2()", "Decode_Date_US2()", "Parse_Date()".
900 The callback handler should return the resulting number or string, as
902 requested.
903 BEWARE that you should NEVER rely upon any knowledge of the object's
905 internal structure, as this may be subject to change!
906 ALWAYS use the test and access methods provided by this module!
908 Example:
910 sub handler
912 {
913 my($self,$code,$lang) = @_;
914 if ($code == 0) # TO_NUMBER | IS_DATE | IS_SHORT
916 {
917 return Date_to_Days( $self->date() );
918 }
919 elsif ($code == 1) # TO_NUMBER | IS_DATE | IS_LONG
920 {
921 return Date_to_Days( $self->date() ) +
922 ( ( $self->hours() * 60 +
923 $self->minutes() ) * 60 +
924 $self->seconds() ) / 86400;
925 }
926 elsif ($code == 2) # TO_NUMBER | IS_DELTA | IS_SHORT
927 {
928 return ( $self->year() * 12 +
929 $self->month() ) * 31 +
930 $self->day();
931 }
932 elsif ($code == 3) # TO_NUMBER | IS_DELTA | IS_LONG
933 {
934 return ( $self->year() * 12 +
935 $self->month() ) * 31 +
936 $self->day() +
937 ( ( $self->hours() * 60 +
938 $self->minutes() ) * 60 +
939 $self->seconds() ) / 86400;
940 }
941 elsif ($code == 4) # TO_STRING | IS_DATE | IS_SHORT
942 {
943 return join( "/", $self->date() );
944 }
945 elsif ($code == 5) # TO_STRING | IS_DATE | IS_LONG
946 {
947 return join( "/", $self->date() ) . " " .
948 join( ":", $self->time() );
949 }
950 elsif ($code == 6) # TO_STRING | IS_DELTA | IS_SHORT
951 {
952 return join( "|", $self->date() );
953 }
954 elsif ($code == 7) # TO_STRING | IS_DELTA | IS_LONG
955 {
956 return join( "|", $self->datetime() );
957 }
958 else
959 {
960 die "internal error";
961 }
962 }
963 Date::Pcalc->number_format(\&handler);
965 Date::Pcalc->delta_format(\&handler);
966 Date::Pcalc->date_format(\&handler);
967 This sets our handler to take care of all automatic conversions, such
969 as needed when comparing dates or when interpolating a string in
970 double quotes which contains a date object.
971 To deactivate a handler, simply pass a valid format number to the
973 method in question, e.g.:
974 Date::Pcalc->number_format(0);
976 Date::Pcalc->delta_format(2);
977 Date::Pcalc->date_format(3);
978 When calling the "number()" or "string()" method explicitly, you can
980 pass a different format number (than the global setting), like this:
981 $number = $date->number(2);
983 $string = $date->string(1);
984 You can also pass a handler's reference, like so:
986 $number = $date->number(\&handler);
988 $string = $date->string(\&handler);
989 This overrides the global setting and the individual object's local
991 setting for the duration of the call of "number()" or "string()" (but
992 doesn't change the global or local settings themselves).
993 Moreover, you can also define individual overrides for the date and
995 the delta vector formats (but not the number format) for individual
996 objects, e.g.:
997 $date->delta_format(1);
999 $date->date_format(2);
1000 $date->delta_format(\&handler);
1002 $date->date_format(\&handler);
1003 In order to deactivate an individual handler for an object, and/or in
1005 order to deactivate any override altogether (so that the global
1006 settings apply again), you have to pass "undef" explicitly to the
1007 method in question:
1008 $date->delta_format(undef);
1010 $date->date_format(undef);
1011 You can also define a language for individual objects (see the next
1013 section immediately below for more details).
1014 If such an individual language override has been set, it will be
1016 passed to your callback handlers as the third parameter (in the case
1017 of "string" conversions, but not in the case of "number"
1018 conversions).
1019 Otherwise, the global settings as defined by "Language($lang);" or
1021 "Date::Pcalc-"language($lang);> will be passed to your handler.
1022 · Languages
1024 Note that this module is completely transparent to the setting of a
1026 language in "Date::Pcalc". This means that you can choose a language
1027 in "Date::Pcalc" (with the "Language()" function) and all dates
1028 subsequently printed by this module will automatically be in that
1029 language - provided that you use the built-in formats of this module,
1030 or that you pass the third parameter of the callback funtion to the
1031 funtions of the "Date::Pcalc" module which accept it.
1032 However, this global language setting can be overridden for
1034 individual date (or delta) objects by using the OBJECT method
1035 $oldlang = $date->language($newlang);
1037 (The global setting is not altered by this in any way.)
1039 In order to deactivate such an individual language setting (so that
1041 the global setting applies again), simply pass the value "undef"
1042 explicitly to the "language()" object method:
1043 $date->language(undef);
1045 The CLASS method
1047 $oldlang = Date::Pcalc->language($newlang);
1049 is just a convenient wrapper around the "Language()" function, which
1051 allows you to enter language numbers (as returned by the
1052 "Decode_Language()" function) or strings (as returned by the
1053 "Language_to_Text()" function), whatever you prefer.
1054 The "language()" method (both class and object) always returns the
1056 NAME (one of ""Language_to_Text(1..Languages())"") of the current
1057 setting (and never its number).
1058 BEWARE that in order to avoid possible conflicts between threads or
1060 modules running concurrently, you should NEVER use the global
1061 function "Language($lang);" or the class method
1062 "Date::Pcalc-"language($lang);> in this module!
1063 The class method is retained only for backward compatibility and for
1065 convenience in stand-alone applications when it is guaranteed that no
1066 such conflicts can arise.
1067 But you should probably avoid to use global settings anyway, because
1069 it may be especially troublesome to fix your code later when suddenly
1070 the need arises to use your code with threads or when your code needs
1071 to use other modules which also use "Date::Pcalc" (with different
1072 settings!).
1073 By exclusively using local settings, you are making your code
1075 invulnerable against other, concurrent modules also using
1076 "Date::Pcalc" which still use global settings.
1077 · Exported Functions
1079 The "Date::Pcalc::Object" package imports ":all" functions exported
1081 by the "Date::Pcalc" module and re-exports them, for conveniency.
1082 This allows you to write
1084 use Date::Pcalc::Object qw(...);
1086 instead of
1088 use Date::Pcalc qw(...);
1090 but with exactly the same semantics. The difference is that the
1092 object-oriented frontend is loaded additionally in the first case.
1093 As with "Date::Pcalc" you can use the ":all" tag to import all of
1095 "Date::Pcalc"'s functions:
1096 use Date::Pcalc::Object qw(:all);
1098 In addition to the functions exported by "Date::Pcalc", the
1100 "Date::Pcalc::Object" package offers some utility functions of its
1101 own for export:
1102 $year = shift_year(\@_);
1104 ($year,$mm,$dd) = shift_date(\@_);
1105 ($hrs,$min,$sec) = shift_time(\@_);
1106 ($year,$mm,$dd,$hrs,$min,$sec) = shift_datetime(\@_);
1107 These functions enable your subroutines or methods to accept a
1109 "Date::Pcalc" (or subclass) date object, an (anonymous) array or a
1110 list (containing the necessary values) as parameters INTERCHANGEABLY.
1111 You can import all of these auxiliary functions by using an ":aux"
1113 tag:
1114 use Date::Pcalc::Object qw(:aux);
1116 If you want to import both all of the "Date::Pcalc" functions as well
1118 as all these auxiliary functions, use the ":ALL" tag:
1119 use Date::Pcalc::Object qw(:ALL);
1121 · Subclassing
1123 In case you want to subclass "Date::Pcalc" objects and to add new
1125 attributes of your own, it is recommended that you proceed as follows
1126 (the following will be considered as a part of the module's "contract
1127 of use" - which might be subject to change in the future, however):
1128 Define a constant for the index of each attribute you want to add,
1130 currently starting no lower than "4", at the top of your subclass:
1131 use constant ATTRIB1 => 4;
1133 use constant ATTRIB2 => 5;
1134 use constant ATTRIB3 => 6;
1135 ...
1136 It is recommended that you use constants (which are easy to change),
1138 because I someday might want to require the element with index "4"
1139 for a new attribute of my own... ":-)"
1140 Then access your attributes like so (e.g. after calling ""$self =
1142 SUPER->new();"" in your constructor method):
1143 $self->[0][ATTRIB1] = 'value1';
1145 $self->[0][ATTRIB2] = 'value2';
1146 $self->[0][ATTRIB3] = 'value3';
1147 ...
1148 Beware that if you put anything other than numbers or strings into
1150 your attributes, the methods "clone()" and "copy()" might not work as
1151 expected anymore!
1152 Especially if your attributes contain references to other data
1154 structures, only the references will be copied, but not the data
1155 structures themselves.
1156 This may not be what you want.
1158 (You will have to override these two methods and write some of your
1160 own if not.)
1161 In order for the overloaded operators and the "shift_*()" auxiliary
1163 functions from the "Date::Pcalc::Object" package to work properly
1164 (the latter of which are heavily used in the
1165 "Date::Pcalendar[::Year]" modules, for instance), the package name of
1166 your subclass (= the one your objects will be blessed into) is
1167 REQUIRED to contain a "::".
1168 Note that you should ONLY subclass "Date::Pcalc", NEVER
1170 "Date::Pcalc::Object", since subclassing the latter is less efficient
1171 (because "Date::Pcalc::Object" is just an empty class which inherits
1172 from "Date::Pcalc" - subclassing "Date::Pcalc::Object" would thus
1173 just introduce an additional name space layer to search during Perl's
1174 runtime method binding process).
1175 If you give your subclass a package name below/inside the "Date::"
1177 namespace, you will also benefit from the fact that all error
1178 messages produced by the "Date::Pcalc[::Object]" module (and also the
1179 "Date::Pcalendar[::Year]" modules, by the way) will appear to have
1180 originated from the place outside of all ""/^Date::/"" modules
1181 (including yours) where one of the "Date::" modules was first called
1182 - i.e., all errors are always blamed on the user, no matter how
1183 deeply nested inside the "Date::" modules they occur, and do not
1184 usually refer to places inside any of the "Date::" modules (this
1185 assumes that there are no bugs in the "Date::" modules, and that all
1186 errors are always the user's fault ":-)").
1187 Moreover, your module's own error messages will behave in the same
1189 way if you ""use Carp::Clan qw(^Date::);"" at the top of your module
1190 and if you produce all error messages using "carp()" and "croak()"
1191 (instead of "warn()" and "die()", respectively).
1192
1194 1)
1195 # Switch to summer time:
1196 $now = Date::Pcalc->now();
1197 if (($now ge [2000,3,26,2,0,0]) and
1198 ($now lt [2000,3,26,3,0,0]))
1199 {
1200 $now += [0,0,0,1,0,0];
1201 }
1202 2)
1204 use Date::Pcalc::Object qw(:all);
1205 Date::Pcalc->date_format(3);
1207 $date = 0;
1209 while (!$date)
1210 {
1211 print "Please enter the date of your birthday (day-month-year): ";
1212 $date = Date::Pcalc->new( Decode_Date_EU( scalar(<STDIN>) ) );
1213 if ($date)
1214 {
1215 $resp = 0;
1216 while ($resp !~ /^\s*[YyNn]/)
1217 {
1218 print "Your birthday is: $date\n";
1219 print "Is that correct? (yes/no) ";
1220 $resp = <STDIN>;
1221 }
1222 $date = 0 unless ($resp =~ /^\s*[Yy]/)
1223 }
1224 else
1225 {
1226 print "Unable to parse your birthday. Please try again.\n";
1227 }
1228 }
1229 if ($date + [18,0,0] <= [Today()])
1231 { print "Ok, you are over 18.\n"; }
1232 else
1233 { print "Sorry, you are under 18!\n"; }
1234 For more examples, see the "examples" subdirectory in this
1236 distribution, and their descriptions in the file "EXAMPLES.txt".
1237
1239 Date::Pcalc(3), Date::Calc::Util(3), Date::Pcalendar(3),
1240 Date::Pcalendar::Year(3), Date::Pcalendar::Profiles(3).
1241
1243 This man page documents "Date::Pcalc::Object" version 6.1.
1244
1246 Steffen Beyer
1247 mailto:STBEY@cpan.org
1248 http://www.engelschall.com/u/sb/download/
1249
1251 Copyright (c) 2000 - 2009 by Steffen Beyer. All rights reserved.
1252
1254 This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
1255 under the same terms as Perl itself, i.e., under the terms of the
1256 "Artistic License" or the "GNU General Public License".
1257 Please refer to the files "Artistic.txt" and "GNU_GPL.txt" in this
1259 distribution for details!
1260
1262 This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
1263 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1264 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
1265 See the "GNU General Public License" for more details.
1267perl v5.28.0 2009-10-15 Date::Pcalc::Object(3)