Converting a string to NSDate in Swift

Question

I am having an issue converting a string to an NSDate in Swift. My date string is in the following format:

2016-05-06T14:07:23.430Z

I have a function to return a formatted date string as follows and the date string passed into the function is in the format shown above:

private func formatDate(theDate:String?) -> String {
    let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
    dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MM-dd-yy H:mm"
    let actualDate = dateFormatter.dateFromString(theDate!) //always produces nil
    let formattedDate = dateFormatter.stringFromDate(actualDate!)
    return formattedDate
}

When trying to get a date object from the string passed into the function, the date object is always nil. Can anyone assist with this issue? Thanks!

The date format you used (MM-dd-yy H:mm) doesn't match at all the date format of your string (2016-05-06T14:07:23.430Z). Have you read related question ? The `dateFormat` of the `NSDateFormatter` object need to match the string. — Larme, May 10 '16 at 13:26
`dateFormatter.dateFormat` does not match the actual format of `2016-05-06T14:07:23.430Z`. You can google or search other stack overflow answers to find the available formatting options to match what you need. There is also a link in @Lion's answer (commented in code) that will point to a list of format options. — keithbhunter, May 10 '16 at 13:26
There is a critical error in this method, you got a parameter theDate optional but where you use it in the method you use it with "!". It's wrong! Check it with a guard for example at the start of the method! — ciccioska, May 10 '16 at 13:26
@Pheepster: No. The current scheme is "NSString (format 1) => NSDate => NSString (format 2)". So the [NSString (format1) + NSDateFormatter (with format1)] => NSDate => NSDateFormatter (with format2) => NSString (format2). — Larme, May 10 '16 at 13:37
Possible duplicate of [NSDateFormatter dateFromString Always Returns nil](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19300032/nsdateformatter-datefromstring-always-returns-nil) — Alexander, May 10 '16 at 14:12

Kirit Modi · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-10T13:45:21.983

3

See this answer :

let myDateString = "2016-05-06T14:07:23.430Z"

let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-dd-MM'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z"
let dateFromString = dateFormatter.dateFromString(myDateString)

let dateFormatter1  = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter1.dateFormat = "MM-dd-yy H:mm"
let getDate =  dateFormatter1.stringFromDate(dateFromString!)

print(getDate)

Your OUTPUT :

edited May 10 '16 at 13:45

answered May 10 '16 at 13:34

Kirit Modi

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@JulienQuere Update my answer – Kirit Modi May 10 '16 at 13:39

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 10 '16 at 14:08

2

let strDate = "2016-05-06T14:07:23.430Z"

let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z'"
let date = dateFormatter.dateFromString(strDate)

edited May 10 '16 at 14:08

Julien Quere

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answered May 10 '16 at 13:34

Jayesh Miruliya

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 10 '16 at 13:32

You used a bad DateFormat. You should not use the same NSDateFormatter for you input date and for your output date.

Try this: yyyy-dd-MM'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z' for your input. Here is a fully working solution:

func formatDate(theDate: String?) -> String {

    let inputDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
    inputDateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-dd-MM'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z'"
    let outputDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
    outputDateFormatter.dateFormat = "MM-dd-yy H:mm"

    let actualDate = inputDateFormatter.dateFromString(theDate!)
    let formattedDate = outputDateFormatter.stringFromDate(actualDate!)
    return formattedDate
}

formatDate("2016-05-06T14:07:23.430Z") // returns 06-05-16 14:07

Converting a string to NSDate in Swift

3 Answers3