Posted on April 22, 2008 - by webmaster

VBscript/ASP Classic Date Format Unix Timestamp

Unix timestamps is a series of number which is represent the seconds since the epoch, January 1st 1970 00:00:00. With Unix timestamp format we can just simply store integer value into database careless about the specific date format, and next we can load it in necessary format in our webpage. This is which i think much simpler and safe rather than store it in regular date format.

PHP has load of date format options, we just need to specify the format we need, but in ASP especially ASP 3.0 (Classic ASP) which has only few format date available, we need to format it manually the beauty of classic asp programming, you need to create your own with limited built-in functionalities. I came a cross Dave Child’s article at ilovejackdaniels.com and follow the comments from respectives users thanks guys, here it is with little fixxing:

'###########################
'#	@ to unix timestamp
'#	@ param s => original date format
'###########################
function to_unix_timestamp(s)
	to_unix_timestamp = DateDiff("s", "01/01/1970 00:00:00", s)
end function

Convert original date format into unix timestamp format. the parameter (s) is a valid date in regular format

'###########################
'#	@ from unix timestamp
'#	@ param s => int unix timestamp
'###########################
function from_unix_timestamp(s)
	from_unix_timestamp = DateAdd("s", s, "01/01/1970 00:00:00")
end function

Convert unix timestamp format into regular date format. the parameter (s) is an integer unix timestamp

'###########################
'# DESC : advanced format date
'# %A - AM or PM
'# %a - am or pm
'# %m - Month with leading zeroes (01 - 12)
'# %n - Month without leading zeroes (1 - 12)
'# %F - Month name (January - December)
'# %M - Three letter month name (Jan - Dec)
'# %d - Day with leading zeroes (01 - 31)
'# %j - Day without leading zeroes (1 - 31)
'# %H - Hour with leading zeroes (12 hour)
'# %h - Hour with leading zeroes (24 hour)
'# %G - Hour without leading zeroes (12 hour)
'# %g - Hour without leading zeroes (24 hour)
'# %i - Minute with leading zeroes (01 to 60)
'# %I - Minute without leading zeroes (1 to 60)
'# %s - Second with leading zeroes (01 to 60)
'# %S - Second without leading zeroes (1 to 60)
'# %L - Number of day of week (1 to 7)
'# %l - Name of day of week (Sunday to Saturday)
'# %D - Three letter name of day of week (Sun to Sat)
'# %O - Ordinal suffix (st, nd rd, th)
'# %U - UNIX Timestamp
'# %Y - Four digit year (2003)
'# %y - Two digit year (03)
'###########################
function FormatDate(format, intTimeStamp)
	'############################
	'# prevent month name error
	'############################
	Dim monthname():Redim monthname(12)
	monthname(1) = "January"
	monthname(2) = "February"
	monthname(3) = "March"
	monthname(4) = "April"
	monthname(5) = "May"
	monthname(6) = "June"
	monthname(7) = "July"
	monthname(8) = "August"
	monthname(9) = "September"
	monthname(10) = "October"
	monthname(11) = "November"
	monthname(12) = "December"
	'############################
	dim OrigDateFormat, A
	'############################
	'IntTimeStamp
	'############################
	if not (isnumeric(intTimeStamp)) then
		if isdate(intTimeStamp) then
			intTimeStamp = DateDiff("S", "01/01/1970 00:00:00", intTimeStamp)
		else
			Response.Write("Invalid Date")
			exit function
		end if
	end if
	'############################
	'original format
	'############################
	if (intTimeStamp=0) then
		OrigDateFormat = now()
	else
		OrigDateFormat = DateAdd("s", intTimeStamp, "01/01/1970 00:00:00")
	end if
	OrigDateFormat = trim(OrigDateFormat)
	'############################
	'get current partial format
	'############################
	dim dateDay:dateDay=DatePart("d",OrigDateFormat)
	dim dateMonth:dateMonth=DatePart("m",OrigDateFormat)
	dim dateYear:dateYear=DatePart("yyyy",OrigDateFormat)
	dim dateHour:dateHour=DatePart("h",OrigDateFormat)
	dim dateMinute:dateMinute=DatePart("m",OrigDateFormat)
	dim dateSecond:dateSecond=DatePart("s",OrigDateFormat)
	'############################
	'relpace
	'############################
	format = replace(format, "%Y", right(dateYear, 4))
	format = replace(format, "%y", right(dateYear, 2))
	format = replace(format, "%m", right("00"&dateMonth,2))
	format = replace(format, "%n", cint(dateMonth))
	format = replace(format, "%F", monthname(cint(dateMonth)))
	format = replace(format, "%M", left(monthname(cint(dateMonth)), 3))
	format = replace(format, "%d", right("00"&dateDay,2))
	format = replace(format, "%j", cint(dateDay))
	format = replace(format, "%h", right("00"&dateHour,2))
	format = replace(format, "%g", cint(dateHour))
	'############################
	'12 hours
	'############################
	if (cint(dateHour) > 12) then
		A = "PM"
	else
		A = "AM"
	end if

	format = replace(format, "%A", A)
	format = replace(format, "%a", lcase(A))

	if (A = "PM") then
		format = replace(format, "%H", right("00" & (dateHour-12), 2))
	else
		format = replace(format, "%H", right("00"&(dateHour),2))
	end if

	if (A = "PM") then
		format = replace(format, "%G", cint(dateHour)-12)
	else
		format = replace(format, "%G", cint(dateHour))
	end if
	'############################
	'time
	'############################
	format = replace(format, "%i", right("00"&dateMinute,2))
	format = replace(format, "%I", cint(dateMinute))
	format = replace(format, "%s", right("00"&dateSecond,2))
	format = replace(format, "%S", cint(dateSecond))
	format = replace(format, "%L", WeekDay(OrigDateFormat))
	format = replace(format, "%D", left(WeekDayName(WeekDay(OrigDateFormat)), 3))
	format = replace(format, "%l", WeekDayName(WeekDay(OrigDateFormat)))
	format = replace(format, "%U", intTimeStamp)
	format = replace(format, "11%O", "11th")
	format = replace(format, "1%O", "1st")
	format = replace(format, "12%O", "12th")
	format = replace(format, "2%O", "2nd")
	format = replace(format, "13%O", "13th")
	format = replace(format, "3%O", "3rd")
	format = replace(format, "%O", "th")
	'############################
	'return
	'############################
	FormatDate = format
end function

Advanced date format as PHP date() function, function parameters are:

• format is string or series of strings with recognized format charaters pattern:
  1. %A – AM or PM
  2. %a – am or pm
  3. %m – Month with leading zeroes (01 – 12)
  4. %n – Month without leading zeroes (1 – 12)
  5. %F – Month name (January – December)
  6. %M – Three letter month name (Jan – Dec)
  7. %d – Day with leading zeroes (01 – 31)
  8. %j – Day without leading zeroes (1 – 31)
  9. %H – Hour with leading zeroes (12 hour)
  10. %h – Hour with leading zeroes (24 hour)
  11. %G – Hour without leading zeroes (12 hour)
  12. %g – Hour without leading zeroes (24 hour)
  13. %i – Minute with leading zeroes (01 to 60)
  14. %I – Minute without leading zeroes (1 to 60)
  15. %s – Second with leading zeroes (01 to 60)
  16. %S – Second without leading zeroes (1 to 60)
  17. %L – Number of day of week (1 to 7)
  18. %l – Name of day of week (Sunday to Saturday)
  19. %D – Three letter name of day of week (Sun to Sat)
  20. %O – Ordinal suffix (st, nd rd, th)
  21. %U – UNIX Timestamp
  22. %Y – Four digit year (2003)
  23. %y – Two digit year (03)
• intTimeStamp series of integer represent valid unix timestamp

Sample of usage:

'################################
'# CURRENT DATE
'################################
current_date_time = now()
current_timestamp = to_unix_timestamp(current_date_time)
Response.Write("<h3>TODAY:</h3>"&amp;vbcrlf)
Response.Write("Timestamp Format => "&amp;current_timestamp&amp;vbcrlf)
Response.Write("Regular Format => "&amp;from_unix_timestamp(current_timestamp)&amp;vbcrlf)
Response.Write("Advanced Format => "&amp;FormatDate("%D %M %d %Y %H:%i:%s %A",current_timestamp)&amp;vbcrlf)

Sample above is about writing current date time in different format, The result of sample above is:

<h3>TODAY:</h3>
Timestamp Format => 1208920980
Regular Format => 4/23/2008 3:23:00 AM
Advanced Format => Wed Apr 23 2008 03:04:00 AM

'################################
'#	Next Week
'################################
current_date_time = now()
nextweek = to_unix_timestamp(current_date_time)+(7 * 24 * 60 * 60)
Response.Write("<h3>NEXT WEEK:</h3>"&amp;vbcrlf)
Response.Write("Timestamp Format => "&amp;nextweek&amp;vbcrlf)
Response.Write("Regular Format => "&amp;from_unix_timestamp(nextweek)&amp;vbcrlf)
Response.Write("Advanced Format => "&amp;FormatDate("%D %M %d %Y %H:%i:%s %a",nextweek)&amp;vbcrlf)

Sample above is about writing the next week date time in different format, (7 * 24 * 60 * 60) means 7 days, 24 hours, 60 minutes, 60 seconds. The result is:

<h3>NEXT WEEK:</h3>
Timestamp Format => 1209525780
Regular Format => 4/30/2008 3:23:00 AM
Advanced Format => Wed Apr 30 2008 03:04:00 am