Swift String value converted into strange Date value

Question

extension Date {
    func toString() -> String {
        let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
        
        dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM dd, Y (E)"
        dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "UTC")
        
        return dateFormatter.string(from: self)
    }
}

extension String {
    func toDate() -> Date {
        let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()

        dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM dd, Y (E)"
        dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "UTC")

        return dateFormatter.date(from: self)!
    }
}

That is my code. I want to convert my string value into a right date value. The results i’m getting are totally different form what i want.

Here is an example:

String : September 09, 2021 (Thu)
Converted Date : 2020-12-24 00:00:00 +0000

I want it to be like this:

Converted Date : September 09, 2021 (Thu) (or 2021-09-09 00:00:00 +0000)

@ElTomato that was just the format i want. date to string is working. but string to date isn't — PJH, Sep 08 '21 at 04:01
Change `Y` to `y` or `yyyy`. [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15133549/difference-between-yyyy-and-yyyy-in-nsdateformatter](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15133549/difference-between-yyyy-and-yyyy-in-nsdateformatter) — Ricky Mo, Sep 08 '21 at 04:35

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 08 '21 at 08:39

Can you change

dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM dd, Y (E)"

To:

dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM dd, yyyy (E)"

You pass the full year in String: September 09, 2021 (Thu) so you need to get yyyy to the right way.

extension String {
    func toDate() -> Date {
        let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
        dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM dd, yyyy (E)"
        dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "UTC")
        return dateFormatter.date(from: self)!
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 08 '21 at 04:34

here you can do what you want:

let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMM dd,yyyy (E)" // here is your foramt
dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "UTC")
guard let date = dateFormatter.date(from: "September 09, 2021 (Thu)") else {
   fatalError()
}
print(date) // output: 2021-09-09 00:00:00 +0000

Note that, the time zone which you choosed, should matched to your device time zone.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 08 '21 at 04:52

Replace Your Function with Following Code

extension Date {
    func toString() -> String {
        let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
        
        dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM dd, yyyy (E)"
        dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "UTC")
        
        return dateFormatter.string(from: self)
    }
}

extension String {
    func toDate() -> Date {
        let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()

        dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMM dd,yyyy (E)"
        dateFormatter.timeZone = TimeZone(identifier: "UTC")

        return dateFormatter.date(from: self)!
    }
}

There was slight variance of in your dateFormat in your toDate() Function

Replaced MMM from MMMM
Replaced yyyy from Y

I don't know why it was showing different date but now it should work

Swift String value converted into strange Date value

3 Answers3