Can using Chronic impair your sense of time?

Question

Haha..

I'm using Chronic to parse the time users add in the Calendar. Where the code works and implements the right time, the end result is that, IF a user adds a time, then it has no date, and because it has no date, it will not show in results. Any ideas?

def set_dates
  unless self.natural_date.blank? || Chronic.parse(self.natural_date).blank?
    # check if we are dealing with a date or a date + time
    if time_provided?(self.natural_date)
      self.date = nil
      self.time = Chronic.parse(self.natural_date)
    else
      self.date = Chronic.parse(self.natural_date).to_date
      self.time = nil
    end
  end

  unless self.natural_end_date.blank? || Chronic.parse(self.natural_end_date).blank?
    # check if we are dealing with a date or a date + time
    if time_provided?(self.natural_end_date)
      self.end_date = nil
      self.end_time = Chronic.parse(self.natural_end_date)
    else
      self.end_date = Chronic.parse(self.natural_end_date).to_date
      self.end_time = nil
    end
  end
end

Edit:

Here is the time_provided? method:

def time_provided?(natural_date_string)
  date_span = Chronic.parse(natural_date_string, :guess => false)
  (date_span.last - date_span.first).to_i == 1
end

Neu

I must admit, when I read the title of this, it made me laugh. – Longwinded

ha! me too, i thought it was a troll – Thunell

+1 At first I was wtf. Then I laughed. Then I cried. Then I got high. – Faena

When this all is said and done, this may be the best question ever asked on SO. – Cistern

Where is the time_provided? method? – Objectify

Good title, I was a bit confused so I checked it out. – Interleave

@Faena I was going to answer the question, but then I got high.. – Crooked

Answer 1

First, I'm not really sure what are you asking about, because it looks like the code intentionally does what you describe... When there's time provided, the date fields are assigned nil. And I don't think that is Chronic is to blame because that's how your code works.

Not knowing your design (why there are separate date & time fields), the types of fields etc., I would suggest starting with a little kludge like this:

if time_provided?(self.natural_date)
  self.time = Chronic.parse(self.natural_date)
  self.date = self.time.to_date

or:

self.end_date = Chronic.parse(self.natural_date).to_date
if time_provided?(self.natural_date)
  self.time = Chronic.parse(self.natural_date)
end

Or maybe the problem is outside the code you provided: in the part that is responsible for the "because it has no date, it will not show in results" behavior? Maybe you should make the conditions more flexible?

Libertinism

Great supposition. Yes, I see that the code should definately not be setting it to nil. So what I did was made this part at least non-nil .. self.date = Chronic.parse(self.natural_date) And, not entirely sure what that did, but at least it made it so that you couldn't add a time anymore as it doesn't auto suggest one. :D . The real question is, is it possible to produce a time and a date seperately. So if they add a date + time, I will get both a date, and a seperate date + time. Alternatively, if they add just a date, then I would get a date, and a date + time without the time :D – Neu