parseDate

Details #

parseDate(text, format?) takes one or two arguments and returns a time: seconds since 1970, the kind time and now() return.

Without a format it tries, in order:

• a plain number, as unix seconds (a number above 100 billion is taken as milliseconds);

• ISO 8601: 2026-10-24, 2026-10-24T15:30, 2026-10-24T15:30:45Z, 2026-10-24T15:30:45.123+02:00. A date alone means midnight in this Mac's time zone;

• the calculator's dates: today, tomorrow, yesterday, Mar 5, 5 March 2026;

• everyday wording found anywhere in the text: next Friday at 3pm, in 2 weeks, Nov 14 at 9:30.

With a format, format is a date pattern such as dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm, and the text has to match it exactly.

Parameters #

Takes 1 to 2 arguments. {{ parseDate(text, b?) }}

Examples #

parseDate("2026-10-24")

parseDate("next friday at 3pm")

parseDate("24/10/2026", "dd/MM/yyyy")

Gotchas #

• Text with no date in it, and empty text, is an error: parseDate() couldn't find a date in 'banana'.

• Wording like next Friday is read against the real clock, not a test clock.

• A plain number such as 2026 is unix seconds, not a year.