module ActionView::Helpers::DateHelper

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_two_digit_numbers - Set to true if you want to display two digit month and day numbers (e.g. “02” instead of “February” and “08” instead of “8”).

• :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.

• :month_format_string - Set to a format string. The string gets passed keys :number (integer) and :name (string). A format string would be something like “%{name} (%<number>02d)” for example. See Kernel.sprintf for documentation on format sequences.

• :date_separator - Specifies a string to separate the date fields. Default is “” (i.e. nothing).

• :time_separator - Specifies a string to separate the time fields. Default is “ : ”.

• :datetime_separator- Specifies a string to separate the date and time fields. Default is “ &mdash; ”.

• :start_year - Set the start year for the year select. Default is Date.today.year - 5 if you are creating new record. While editing existing record, :start_year defaults to the current selected year minus 5.

• :end_year - Set the end year for the year select. Default is Date.today.year + 5 if you are creating new record. While editing existing record, :end_year defaults to the current selected year plus 5.

• :year_format - Set format of years for year select. Lambda should be passed.

• :day_format - Set format of days for day select. Lambda should be passed.

• :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, :month and :year to 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.

• :selected - Set a date that overrides the actual value.

• :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, :minute and :second. Setting this option prepends a select option with a generic prompt (Day, Month, Year, Hour, Minute, Seconds) or the given prompt string.

• :with_css_classes - Set to true or a hash of strings. Use true if you want to assign generic styles for select tags. This automatically set classes ‘year’, ‘month’, ‘day’, ‘hour’, ‘minute’ and ‘second’. A hash of strings for :year, :month, :day, :hour, :minute, :second will extend the select type with the given value. Use html_options to modify every select tag in the set.

• :use_hidden - Set to true if you only want to generate hidden input tags.

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.

# 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 two digit numbers used for months and days.
date_select("article", "written_on", use_two_digit_numbers: 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 article variable, in the written_on attribute
# which is set in the form with today's date, regardless of the value in the Active Record object.
date_select("article", "written_on", selected: Date.today)

# 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' })

# Generates a date select with custom year format.
date_select("article", "written_on", year_format: ->(year) { "Heisei #{year - 1988}" })

# Generates a date select with custom day format.
date_select("article", "written_on", day_format: ->(day) { day.ordinalize })

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.

# 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. Pass include_seconds: 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 <-> 44 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs   # => about 1 month
44 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs   # => about 2 months
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

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, include_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, include_seconds: true)         # => less than a minute
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time - 45.seconds, include_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, include_seconds: true)                        # => about 6 years
distance_of_time_in_words(to_time, from_time, include_seconds: true)                        # => about 6 years
distance_of_time_in_words(Time.now, Time.now)                                               # => less than a minute

With the scope option, you can define a custom scope for Rails to look up the translation.

For example you can define the following in your locale (e.g. en.yml).

datetime:
  distance_in_words:
    short:
      about_x_hours:
        one: 'an hour'
        other: '%{count} hours'

See github.com/svenfuchs/rails-i18n/blob/master/rails/locale/en.yml for more examples.

Which will then result in the following:

from_time = Time.now
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 50.minutes, scope: 'datetime.distance_in_words.short') # => "an hour"
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 3.hours, scope: 'datetime.distance_in_words.short')    # => "3 hours"

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.

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.

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. If you want to display days with a leading zero set the :use_two_digit_numbers key in options to true. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘day’ by default.

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_date)

# 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 number given, but displays it with two digits.
select_day(5, use_two_digit_numbers: true)

# 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_date, 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.

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)

# Generates a select field that includes options for hours from 2 to 14.
select_hour(my_time, start_hour: 2, end_hour: 14)

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.

my_time = Time.now + 10.minutes

# 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. If you want to display months with a leading zero set the :use_two_digit_numbers key in options to true. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘month’ by default.

# 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 that defaults to the current month that
# will use keys with two digit numbers like "01", "03".
select_month(Date.today, use_two_digit_numbers: true)

# 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.

my_time = Time.now + 16.seconds

# 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.

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 field with hours that range from 2 to 14
select_time(my_time, start_hour: 2, end_hour: 14)

# 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.

# 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.

time_ago_in_words(3.minutes.from_now)                 # => 3 minutes
time_ago_in_words(3.minutes.ago)                      # => 3 minutes
time_ago_in_words(Time.now - 15.hours)                # => about 15 hours
time_ago_in_words(Time.now)                           # => less than a minute
time_ago_in_words(Time.now, include_seconds: true) # => less than 5 seconds

from_time = Time.now - 3.days - 14.minutes - 25.seconds
time_ago_in_words(from_time)      # => 3 days

from_time = (3.days + 14.minutes + 25.seconds).ago
time_ago_in_words(from_time)      # => 3 days

Note that you cannot pass a Numeric value to time_ago_in_words.

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.

# 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 }

# You can set :ignore_date option to true which will remove the hidden inputs for day,
# month, and year that are set by default on this helper when you only want the time inputs
time_select 'game', 'game_time', { ignore_date: 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.

time_tag Date.today  # =>
  <time datetime="2010-11-04">November 04, 2010</time>
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</time>
time_tag Date.today, datetime: Date.today.strftime('%G-W%V') # =>
  <time datetime="2010-W44">November 04, 2010</time>

<%= time_tag Time.now do %>
  <span>Right now</span>
<% end %>
# => <time datetime="2010-11-04T17:55:45+01:00"><span>Right now</span></time>