Module ActionView::Helpers::DateHelper
In: lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb

The Date Helper primarily creates select/option tags for different kinds of dates and date 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[month] instead of date[month] 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, the select_month method would use simply "date" (which can be overwritten using :prefix) instead of "date[month]".

Methods

Included Modules

ActionView::Helpers::TagHelper

Constants

DEFAULT_PREFIX = 'date' unless const_defined?('DEFAULT_PREFIX')

Public Instance methods

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). It‘s possible to tailor the selects through the options hash, which accepts all the keys that each of the individual select builders do (like :use_month_numbers for select_month) as well as a range of discard options. The discard options are :discard_year, :discard_month and :discard_day. Set to true, they‘ll drop the respective select. Discarding the month select will also automatically discard the day select. 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. Symbols may be omitted and the respective select is not included.

Pass the :default option to set the default date. Use a Time object or a Hash of :year, :month, :day, :hour, :minute, and :second.

Passing :disabled => true as part of the options will make elements inaccessible for change.

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 post variable, in the written_on attribute
  date_select("post", "written_on")

  # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the post variable, in the written_on attribute,
  # with the year in the year drop down box starting at 1995.
  date_select("post", "written_on", :start_year => 1995)

  # Generates a date select that when POSTed is stored in the post 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("post", "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 post variable, in the written_on attribute
  # with the fields ordered as day, month, year rather than month, day, year.
  date_select("post", "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 user variable, in the birthday attribute
  # which is initially set to the date 3 days from the current date
  date_select("post", "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 })

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). Examples:

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 post variable in the written_on attribute
  datetime_select("post", "written_on")

  # Generates a datetime select with a year select that starts at 1995 that, when POSTed, will be stored in the
  # post variable in the written_on attribute.
  datetime_select("post", "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)

  # Generates a datetime select that discards the type that, when POSTed, will be stored in the post variable as the written_on
  # attribute.
  datetime_select("post", "written_on", :discard_type => true)

The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.

Reports the approximate distance in time between two Time or Date 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, 29 secs <-> 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs                             # => about [2..24] hours
  23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs <-> 47 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs                     # => 1 day
  47 hrs, 59 mins, 29 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 <-> 2 yrs minus 1 secs                                               # => about 1 year
  2 yrs <-> max time or date                                                # => over [2..X] years

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)              # => over 3 years
  distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 60.hours)          # => about 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 + 4.years + 15.days + 30.minutes + 5.seconds) # => over 4 years

  to_time = Time.now + 6.years + 19.days
  distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, to_time, true)     # => over 6 years
  distance_of_time_in_words(to_time, from_time, true)     # => over 6 years
  distance_of_time_in_words(Time.now, Time.now)           # => less than a minute
distance_of_time_in_words_to_now(from_time, include_seconds = false)

Alias for time_ago_in_words

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 you do not supply a Symbol, it will be appended onto the :order passed in.

If anything is passed in the html_options hash it will be applied to every select tag in the set.

Examples

  my_date = Time.today + 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_datetime(my_date_time, :discard_type => true)

  # Generates a date select that defaults to the datetime in my_date (six days after today)
  # prefixed with 'payday' rather than 'date'
  select_datetime(my_date_time, :prefix => 'payday')

Returns a set of html select-tags (one for year, month, day, hour, and minute) 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 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 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)

  # 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')

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 hour number. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘day’ by default.

Examples

  my_date = Time.today + 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')

Returns a select tag with options for each of the hours 0 through 23 with the current hour selected. The hour can also be substituted for a hour number. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘hour’ 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 'stride' rather than 'second'
  select_minute(my_time, :field_name => 'stride')

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 minute can also be substituted for a minute number. 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 'stride' rather than 'second'
  select_minute(my_time, :field_name => 'stride')

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 ...))

Returns a select tag with options for each of the seconds 0 through 59 with the current second selected. The second can also be substituted for a second number. 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')

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)

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)

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)      # => 15 hours
  time_ago_in_words(Time.now)                 # => less than a minute

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

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 post variable in the sunrise attribute
  time_select("post", "sunrise")

  # Creates a time select tag that, when POSTed, will be stored in the order variable in the submitted attribute
  time_select("order", "submitted")

  # Creates a time select tag that, when POSTed, will be stored in the mail variable in the sent_at attribute
  time_select("mail", "sent_at")

  # Creates a time select tag with a seconds field that, when POSTed, will be stored in the post variables in
  # the sunrise attribute.
  time_select("post", "start_time", :include_seconds => true)

  # Creates a time select tag with a seconds field that, when POSTed, will be stored in the entry variables in
  # the submission_time attribute.
  time_select("entry", "submission_time", :include_seconds => true)

  # You can set the :minute_step to 15 which will give you: 00, 15, 30 and 45.
  time_select 'game', 'game_time', {:minute_step => 15}

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.

[Validate]