Action View Date Helpers
The Date Helper primarily creates select/option tags for different kinds of dates and times or date and time elements. All of the select-type methods share a number of common options that are as follows:
-
:prefix- overwrites the default prefix of "date" used for the select names. So specifying "birthday"
would give birthday instead of date if passed to the select_month
method.
-
:include_blank- set to true if it should be possible to set an empty date. -
:discard_type- set to true if you want to discard the type part of the select name. If set to true, theselect_monthmethod would use simply "date" (which can be overwritten using:prefix) instead of "date".
- D
- S
- T
Returns a set of select tags (one for year, month, and day) pre-selected
for accessing a specified date-based attribute (identified by
method) on an object assigned to the template (identified by
object).
Options
-
:use_month_numbers- Set to true if you want to use month numbers rather than month names (e.g. "2" instead of "February"). -
:use_short_month- Set to true if you want to use abbreviated month names instead of full month names (e.g. "Feb" instead of "February"). -
:add_month_numbers- Set to true if you want to use both month numbers and month names (e.g. "2 - February" instead of "February"). -
:use_month_names- Set to an array with 12 month names if you want to customize month names. Note: You can also use Rails' i18n functionality for this. -
:date_separator- Specifies a string to separate the date fields. Default is "" (i.e. nothing). -
:start_year- Set the start year for the year select. Default isTime.now.year - 5. -
:end_year- Set the end year for the year select. Default isTime.now.year + 5. -
:discard_day- Set to true if you don't want to show a day select. This includes the day as a hidden field instead of showing a select field. Also note that this implicitly sets the day to be the first of the given month in order to not create invalid dates like 31 February. -
:discard_month- Set to true if you don't want to show a month select. This includes the month as a hidden field instead of showing a select field. Also note that this implicitly sets :discard_day to true. -
:discard_year- Set to true if you don't want to show a year select. This includes the year as a hidden field instead of showing a select field. -
:order- Set to an array containing:day,:monthand:yearto customize the order in which the select fields are shown. If you leave out any of the symbols, the respective select will not be shown (like when you set:discard_xxx => true. Defaults to the order defined in the respective locale (e.g. [:year, :month, :day] in the en locale that ships with Rails). -
:include_blank- Include a blank option in every select field so it's possible to set empty dates. -
:default- Set a default date if the affected date isn't set or is nil. -
:disabled- Set to true if you want show the select fields as disabled. -
:prompt- Set to true (for a generic prompt), a prompt string or a hash of prompt strings for:year,:month,:day,:hour,:minuteand:second. Setting this option prepends a select option with a generic prompt (Day, Month, Year, Hour, Minute, Seconds) or the given prompt string.
If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be
applied to every select tag in the set.
NOTE: Discarded selects will default to 1. So if no month select is available, January will be assumed.
Examples
# Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the article variable, in the written_on attribute. date_select("article", "written_on") # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the article variable, in the written_on attribute, # with the year in the year drop down box starting at 1995. date_select("article", "written_on", :start_year => 1995) # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the article variable, in the written_on attribute, # with the year in the year drop down box starting at 1995, numbers used for months instead of words, # and without a day select box. date_select("article", "written_on", :start_year => 1995, :use_month_numbers => true, :discard_day => true, :include_blank => true) # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the article variable, in the written_on attribute # with the fields ordered as day, month, year rather than month, day, year. date_select("article", "written_on", :order => [:day, :month, :year]) # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the user variable, in the birthday attribute # lacking a year field. date_select("user", "birthday", :order => [:month, :day]) # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the article variable, in the written_on attribute # which is initially set to the date 3 days from the current date date_select("article", "written_on", :default => 3.days.from_now) # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the credit_card variable, in the bill_due attribute # that will have a default day of 20. date_select("credit_card", "bill_due", :default => { :day => 20 }) # Generates a date select with custom prompts. date_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => { :day => 'Select day', :month => 'Select month', :year => 'Select year' })
The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.
Note: If the day is not included as an option but the month is, the day will be set to the 1st to ensure that all month choices are valid.
Returns a set of select tags (one for year, month, day, hour, and minute)
pre-selected for accessing a specified datetime-based attribute (identified
by method) on an object assigned to the template (identified
by object).
If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be applied to every select tag in the set.
Examples
# Generates a datetime select that, when POSTed, will be stored in the article variable in the written_on # attribute. datetime_select("article", "written_on") # Generates a datetime select with a year select that starts at 1995 that, when POSTed, will be stored in the # article variable in the written_on attribute. datetime_select("article", "written_on", :start_year => 1995) # Generates a datetime select with a default value of 3 days from the current time that, when POSTed, will # be stored in the trip variable in the departing attribute. datetime_select("trip", "departing", :default => 3.days.from_now) # Generate a datetime select with hours in the AM/PM format datetime_select("article", "written_on", :ampm => true) # Generates a datetime select that discards the type that, when POSTed, will be stored in the article variable # as the written_on attribute. datetime_select("article", "written_on", :discard_type => true) # Generates a datetime select with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for generic prompts. datetime_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => {:day => 'Choose day', :month => 'Choose month', :year => 'Choose year'}) datetime_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => {:hour => true}) # generic prompt for hours datetime_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => true) # generic prompts for all
The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.
Reports the approximate distance in time between two Time, Date or DateTime objects or integers as seconds. Set
include_seconds to true if you want more detailed
approximations when distance < 1 min, 29 secs. Distances are reported
based on the following table:
0 <-> 29 secs # => less than a minute 30 secs <-> 1 min, 29 secs # => 1 minute 1 min, 30 secs <-> 44 mins, 29 secs # => [2..44] minutes 44 mins, 30 secs <-> 89 mins, 29 secs # => about 1 hour 89 mins, 30 secs <-> 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => about [2..24] hours 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 41 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => 1 day 41 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 29 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => [2..29] days 29 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => about 1 month 59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 1 yr minus 1 sec # => [2..12] months 1 yr <-> 1 yr, 3 months # => about 1 year 1 yr, 3 months <-> 1 yr, 9 months # => over 1 year 1 yr, 9 months <-> 2 yr minus 1 sec # => almost 2 years 2 yrs <-> max time or date # => (same rules as 1 yr)
With include_seconds = true and the difference < 1 minute
29 seconds:
0-4 secs # => less than 5 seconds 5-9 secs # => less than 10 seconds 10-19 secs # => less than 20 seconds 20-39 secs # => half a minute 40-59 secs # => less than a minute 60-89 secs # => 1 minute
Examples
from_time = Time.now distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 50.minutes) # => about 1 hour distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, 50.minutes.from_now) # => about 1 hour distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 15.seconds) # => less than a minute distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 15.seconds, true) # => less than 20 seconds distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, 3.years.from_now) # => about 3 years distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 60.hours) # => 3 days distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 45.seconds, true) # => less than a minute distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time - 45.seconds, true) # => less than a minute distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, 76.seconds.from_now) # => 1 minute distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 1.year + 3.days) # => about 1 year distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 3.years + 6.months) # => over 3 years distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 4.years + 9.days + 30.minutes + 5.seconds) # => about 4 years to_time = Time.now + 6.years + 19.days distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, to_time, true) # => about 6 years distance_of_time_in_words(to_time, from_time, true) # => about 6 years distance_of_time_in_words(Time.now, Time.now) # => less than a minute
# File actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 67 def distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, to_time = 0, include_seconds = false, options = {}) from_time = from_time.to_time if from_time.respond_to?(:to_time) to_time = to_time.to_time if to_time.respond_to?(:to_time) distance_in_minutes = (((to_time - from_time).abs)/60).round distance_in_seconds = ((to_time - from_time).abs).round I18n.with_options :locale => options[:locale], :scope => :'datetime.distance_in_words' do |locale| case distance_in_minutes when 0..1 return distance_in_minutes == 0 ? locale.t(:less_than_x_minutes, :count => 1) : locale.t(:x_minutes, :count => distance_in_minutes) unless include_seconds case distance_in_seconds when 0..4 then locale.t :less_than_x_seconds, :count => 5 when 5..9 then locale.t :less_than_x_seconds, :count => 10 when 10..19 then locale.t :less_than_x_seconds, :count => 20 when 20..39 then locale.t :half_a_minute when 40..59 then locale.t :less_than_x_minutes, :count => 1 else locale.t :x_minutes, :count => 1 end when 2..44 then locale.t :x_minutes, :count => distance_in_minutes when 45..89 then locale.t :about_x_hours, :count => 1 when 90..1439 then locale.t :about_x_hours, :count => (distance_in_minutes.to_f / 60.0).round when 1440..2519 then locale.t :x_days, :count => 1 when 2520..43199 then locale.t :x_days, :count => (distance_in_minutes.to_f / 1440.0).round when 43200..86399 then locale.t :about_x_months, :count => 1 when 86400..525599 then locale.t :x_months, :count => (distance_in_minutes.to_f / 43200.0).round else fyear = from_time.year fyear += 1 if from_time.month >= 3 tyear = to_time.year tyear -= 1 if to_time.month < 3 leap_years = (fyear > tyear) ? 0 : (fyear..tyear).count{|x| Date.leap?(x)} minute_offset_for_leap_year = leap_years * 1440 # Discount the leap year days when calculating year distance. # e.g. if there are 20 leap year days between 2 dates having the same day # and month then the based on 365 days calculation # the distance in years will come out to over 80 years when in written # english it would read better as about 80 years. minutes_with_offset = distance_in_minutes - minute_offset_for_leap_year remainder = (minutes_with_offset % 525600) distance_in_years = (minutes_with_offset / 525600) if remainder < 131400 locale.t(:about_x_years, :count => distance_in_years) elsif remainder < 394200 locale.t(:over_x_years, :count => distance_in_years) else locale.t(:almost_x_years, :count => distance_in_years + 1) end end end end
Returns a set of html select-tags (one for year, month, and day)
pre-selected with the date. It’s possible to explicitly set
the order of the tags using the :order option with an array of
symbols :year, :month and :day in
the desired order. If the array passed to the :order option
does not contain all the three symbols, all tags will be hidden.
If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be applied to every select tag in the set.
Examples
my_date = Time.now + 6.days # Generates a date select that defaults to the date in my_date (six days after today). select_date(my_date) # Generates a date select that defaults to today (no specified date). select_date() # Generates a date select that defaults to the date in my_date (six days after today) # with the fields ordered year, month, day rather than month, day, year. select_date(my_date, :order => [:year, :month, :day]) # Generates a date select that discards the type of the field and defaults to the date in # my_date (six days after today). select_date(my_date, :discard_type => true) # Generates a date select that defaults to the date in my_date, # which has fields separated by '/'. select_date(my_date, :date_separator => '/') # Generates a date select that defaults to the datetime in my_date (six days after today) # prefixed with 'payday' rather than 'date'. select_date(my_date, :prefix => 'payday') # Generates a date select with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for generic prompts. select_date(my_date, :prompt => {:day => 'Choose day', :month => 'Choose month', :year => 'Choose year'}) select_date(my_date, :prompt => {:hour => true}) # generic prompt for hours select_date(my_date, :prompt => true) # generic prompts for all
Returns a set of html select-tags (one for year, month, day, hour, minute,
and second) pre-selected with the datetime. It’s also possible
to explicitly set the order of the tags using the :order
option with an array of symbols :year, :month and
:day in the desired order. If you do not supply a Symbol, it will be appended onto the
:order passed in. You can also add
:date_separator, :datetime_separator and
:time_separator keys to the options to control
visual display of the elements.
If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be applied to every select tag in the set.
Examples
my_date_time = Time.now + 4.days # Generates a datetime select that defaults to the datetime in my_date_time (four days after today). select_datetime(my_date_time) # Generates a datetime select that defaults to today (no specified datetime) select_datetime() # Generates a datetime select that defaults to the datetime in my_date_time (four days after today) # with the fields ordered year, month, day rather than month, day, year. select_datetime(my_date_time, :order => [:year, :month, :day]) # Generates a datetime select that defaults to the datetime in my_date_time (four days after today) # with a '/' between each date field. select_datetime(my_date_time, :date_separator => '/') # Generates a datetime select that defaults to the datetime in my_date_time (four days after today) # with a date fields separated by '/', time fields separated by '' and the date and time fields # separated by a comma (','). select_datetime(my_date_time, :date_separator => '/', :time_separator => '', :datetime_separator => ',') # Generates a datetime select that discards the type of the field and defaults to the datetime in # my_date_time (four days after today) select_datetime(my_date_time, :discard_type => true) # Generate a datetime field with hours in the AM/PM format select_datetime(my_date_time, :ampm => true) # Generates a datetime select that defaults to the datetime in my_date_time (four days after today) # prefixed with 'payday' rather than 'date' select_datetime(my_date_time, :prefix => 'payday') # Generates a datetime select with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for generic prompts. select_datetime(my_date_time, :prompt => {:day => 'Choose day', :month => 'Choose month', :year => 'Choose year'}) select_datetime(my_date_time, :prompt => {:hour => true}) # generic prompt for hours select_datetime(my_date_time, :prompt => true) # generic prompts for all
Returns a select tag with options for each of the days 1 through 31 with
the current day selected. The date can also be substituted for
a day number. Override the field name using the :field_name
option, ‘day’ by default.
Examples
my_date = Time.now + 2.days # Generates a select field for days that defaults to the day for the date in my_date. select_day(my_time) # Generates a select field for days that defaults to the number given. select_day(5) # Generates a select field for days that defaults to the day for the date in my_date # that is named 'due' rather than 'day'. select_day(my_time, :field_name => 'due') # Generates a select field for days with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for a # generic prompt. select_day(5, :prompt => 'Choose day')
Returns a select tag with options for each of the hours 0 through 23 with
the current hour selected. The datetime can be either a
Time or DateTime object or an integer. Override
the field name using the :field_name option, ‘hour’ by
default.
Examples
my_time = Time.now + 6.hours # Generates a select field for hours that defaults to the hour for the time in my_time. select_hour(my_time) # Generates a select field for hours that defaults to the number given. select_hour(13) # Generates a select field for hours that defaults to the hour for the time in my_time # that is named 'stride' rather than 'hour'. select_hour(my_time, :field_name => 'stride') # Generates a select field for hours with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for a # generic prompt. select_hour(13, :prompt => 'Choose hour') # Generate a select field for hours in the AM/PM format select_hour(my_time, :ampm => true)
Returns a select tag with options for each of the minutes 0 through 59 with
the current minute selected. Also can return a select tag with options by
minute_step from 0 through 59 with the 00 minute selected. The
datetime can be either a Time or
DateTime object or an integer. Override the field name using
the :field_name option, ‘minute’ by default.
Examples
my_time = Time.now + 6.hours # Generates a select field for minutes that defaults to the minutes for the time in my_time. select_minute(my_time) # Generates a select field for minutes that defaults to the number given. select_minute(14) # Generates a select field for minutes that defaults to the minutes for the time in my_time # that is named 'moment' rather than 'minute'. select_minute(my_time, :field_name => 'moment') # Generates a select field for minutes with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for a # generic prompt. select_minute(14, :prompt => 'Choose minutes')
Returns a select tag with options for each of the months January through
December with the current month selected. The month names are presented as
keys (what’s shown to the user) and the month numbers (1-12) are used as
values (what’s submitted to the server). It’s also possible to use month
numbers for the presentation instead of names – set the
:use_month_numbers key in options to true for
this to happen. If you want both numbers and names, set the
:add_month_numbers key in options to true. If you
would prefer to show month names as abbreviations, set the
:use_short_month key in options to true. If you
want to use your own month names, set the :use_month_names key
in options to an array of 12 month names. Override the field
name using the :field_name option, ‘month’ by default.
Examples
# Generates a select field for months that defaults to the current month that # will use keys like "January", "March". select_month(Date.today) # Generates a select field for months that defaults to the current month that # is named "start" rather than "month". select_month(Date.today, :field_name => 'start') # Generates a select field for months that defaults to the current month that # will use keys like "1", "3". select_month(Date.today, :use_month_numbers => true) # Generates a select field for months that defaults to the current month that # will use keys like "1 - January", "3 - March". select_month(Date.today, :add_month_numbers => true) # Generates a select field for months that defaults to the current month that # will use keys like "Jan", "Mar". select_month(Date.today, :use_short_month => true) # Generates a select field for months that defaults to the current month that # will use keys like "Januar", "Marts." select_month(Date.today, :use_month_names => %w(Januar Februar Marts ...)) # Generates a select field for months with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for a # generic prompt. select_month(14, :prompt => 'Choose month')
Returns a select tag with options for each of the seconds 0 through 59 with
the current second selected. The datetime can be either a
Time or DateTime object or an integer. Override
the field name using the :field_name option, ‘second’ by
default.
Examples
my_time = Time.now + 16.minutes # Generates a select field for seconds that defaults to the seconds for the time in my_time. select_second(my_time) # Generates a select field for seconds that defaults to the number given. select_second(33) # Generates a select field for seconds that defaults to the seconds for the time in my_time # that is named 'interval' rather than 'second'. select_second(my_time, :field_name => 'interval') # Generates a select field for seconds with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for a # generic prompt. select_second(14, :prompt => 'Choose seconds')
Returns a set of html select-tags (one for hour and minute). You can set
:time_separator key to format the output, and the
:include_seconds option to include an input for seconds.
If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be applied to every select tag in the set.
Examples
my_time = Time.now + 5.days + 7.hours + 3.minutes + 14.seconds # Generates a time select that defaults to the time in my_time. select_time(my_time) # Generates a time select that defaults to the current time (no specified time). select_time() # Generates a time select that defaults to the time in my_time, # which has fields separated by ':'. select_time(my_time, :time_separator => ':') # Generates a time select that defaults to the time in my_time, # that also includes an input for seconds. select_time(my_time, :include_seconds => true) # Generates a time select that defaults to the time in my_time, that has fields # separated by ':' and includes an input for seconds. select_time(my_time, :time_separator => ':', :include_seconds => true) # Generate a time select field with hours in the AM/PM format select_time(my_time, :ampm => true) # Generates a time select with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt</tt> to true for generic prompts. select_time(my_time, :prompt => {:day => 'Choose day', :month => 'Choose month', :year => 'Choose year'}) select_time(my_time, :prompt => {:hour => true}) # generic prompt for hours select_time(my_time, :prompt => true) # generic prompts for all
Returns a select tag with options for each of the five years on each side
of the current, which is selected. The five year radius can be changed
using the :start_year and :end_year keys in the
options. Both ascending and descending year lists are
supported by making :start_year less than or greater than
:end_year. The date can also be substituted for a
year given as a number. Override the field name using the
:field_name option, ‘year’ by default.
Examples
# Generates a select field for years that defaults to the current year that # has ascending year values. select_year(Date.today, :start_year => 1992, :end_year => 2007) # Generates a select field for years that defaults to the current year that # is named 'birth' rather than 'year'. select_year(Date.today, :field_name => 'birth') # Generates a select field for years that defaults to the current year that # has descending year values. select_year(Date.today, :start_year => 2005, :end_year => 1900) # Generates a select field for years that defaults to the year 2006 that # has ascending year values. select_year(2006, :start_year => 2000, :end_year => 2010) # Generates a select field for years with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for a # generic prompt. select_year(14, :prompt => 'Choose year')
Like distance_of_time_in_words, but where to_time
is fixed to Time.now.
Examples
time_ago_in_words(3.minutes.from_now) # => 3 minutes time_ago_in_words(Time.now - 15.hours) # => about 15 hours time_ago_in_words(Time.now) # => less than a minute from_time = Time.now - 3.days - 14.minutes - 25.seconds time_ago_in_words(from_time) # => 3 days
Returns a set of select tags (one for hour, minute and optionally second)
pre-selected for accessing a specified time-based attribute (identified by
method) on an object assigned to the template (identified by
object). You can include the seconds with
:include_seconds. You can get hours in the AM/PM format with
:ampm option.
This method will also generate 3 input hidden tags, for the actual year,
month and day unless the option :ignore_date is set to
true. If you set the :ignore_date to
true, you must have a date_select on the same
method within the form otherwise an exception will be raised.
If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be applied to every select tag in the set.
Examples
# Creates a time select tag that, when POSTed, will be stored in the article variable in the sunrise attribute. time_select("article", "sunrise") # Creates a time select tag with a seconds field that, when POSTed, will be stored in the article variables in # the sunrise attribute. time_select("article", "start_time", :include_seconds => true) # You can set the <tt>:minute_step</tt> to 15 which will give you: 00, 15, 30 and 45. time_select 'game', 'game_time', {:minute_step => 15} # Creates a time select tag with a custom prompt. Use <tt>:prompt => true</tt> for generic prompts. time_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => {:hour => 'Choose hour', :minute => 'Choose minute', :second => 'Choose seconds'}) time_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => {:hour => true}) # generic prompt for hours time_select("article", "written_on", :prompt => true) # generic prompts for all # You can set :ampm option to true which will show the hours as: 12 PM, 01 AM .. 11 PM. time_select 'game', 'game_time', {:ampm => true}
The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.
Note: If the day is not included as an option but the month is, the day will be set to the 1st to ensure that all month choices are valid.
Returns an html time tag for the given date or time.
Examples
time_tag Date.today # => <time datetime="2010-11-04">November 04, 2010<%rtime> time_tag Time.now # => <time datetime="2010-11-04T17:55:45+01:00">November 04, 2010 17:55</time> time_tag Date.yesterday, 'Yesterday' # => <time datetime="2010-11-03">Yesterday<%rtime> time_tag Date.today, :pubdate => true # => <time datetime="2010-11-04" pubdate="pubdate">November 04, 2010</time>
# File actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 613 def time_tag(date_or_time, *args) options = args.extract_options! format = options.delete(:format) || :long content = args.first || I18n.l(date_or_time, :format => format) datetime = date_or_time.acts_like?(:time) ? date_or_time.xmlschema : date_or_time.rfc3339 content_tag(:time, content, options.reverse_merge(:datetime => datetime)) end