trusty (3) DateTime::Format::Natural.3pm.gz

NAME

       DateTime::Format::Natural - Create machine readable date/time with natural parsing logic

SYNOPSIS

        use DateTime::Format::Natural;

        $parser = DateTime::Format::Natural->new;

        $date_string  = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);
        @date_strings = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);

        $dt = $parser->parse_datetime($date_string);
        @dt = $parser->parse_datetime_duration($date_string);

        if ($parser->success) {
            # operate on $dt/@dt, for example:
            printf("%02d.%02d.%4d %02d:%02d:%02d\n", $dt->day,
                                                     $dt->month,
                                                     $dt->year,
                                                     $dt->hour,
                                                     $dt->min,
                                                     $dt->sec);
        } else {
            warn $parser->error;
        }

        @traces = $parser->trace;

DESCRIPTION

       "DateTime::Format::Natural" takes a string with a human readable date/time and creates a machine readable
       one by applying natural parsing logic.

CONSTRUCTOR

   new
       Creates a new "DateTime::Format::Natural" object. Arguments to "new()" are options and not necessarily
       required.

        $parser = DateTime::Format::Natural->new(
                  datetime      => DateTime->new(...),
                  lang          => 'en',
                  format        => 'mm/dd/yy',
                  prefer_future => '[0|1]',
                  time_zone     => 'floating',
                  daytime       => { morning   => 06,
                                     afternoon => 13,
                                     evening   => 20,
                                   },
        );

       •   "datetime"

           Overrides the present now with a DateTime object provided.

       •   "lang"

           Contains the language selected, currently limited to "en" (english).  Defaults to '"en"'.

       •   "format"

           Specifies the format of numeric dates, defaults to '"d/m/y"'.

       •   "prefer_future"

           Turns ambiguous weekdays/months to their future relatives. Accepts a boolean, defaults to false.

       •   "time_zone"

           The time zone to use when parsing and for output. Accepts any time zone recognized by DateTime.
           Defaults to 'floating'.

       •   "daytime"

           An anonymous hash reference consisting of customized daytime hours, which may be selectively changed.

METHODS

   parse_datetime
       Returns a DateTime object constructed from a human readable date/time string.

        $dt = $parser->parse_datetime($date_string);
        $dt = $parser->parse_datetime(string => $date_string);

       •   "string"

           The date string.

   parse_datetime_duration
       Returns one or two DateTime objects constructed from a human readable date/time string which may contain
       timespans/durations. Same interface and options as "parse_datetime()", but should be explicitly called in
       list context.

        @dt = $parser->parse_datetime_duration($date_string);
        @dt = $parser->parse_datetime_duration(string => $date_string);

   extract_datetime
       Returns parsable date/time substrings (also known as expressions) extracted from the string provided; in
       scalar context only the first parsable substring is returned, whereas in list context all parsable
       substrings are returned.  Each extracted substring can then be passed to the "parse_datetime()"/
       "parse_datetime_duration()" methods.

        $date_string  = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);
        @date_strings = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);
        # or
        $date_string  = $parser->extract_datetime(string => $extract_string);
        @date_strings = $parser->extract_datetime(string => $extract_string);

   success
       Returns a boolean indicating success or failure for parsing the date/time string given.

   error
       Returns the error message if the parsing did not succeed.

   trace
       Returns one or two strings with the grammar keyword for the valid expression parsed, traces of methods
       which were called within the Calc class and a summary how often certain units have been modified. More
       than one string is commonly returned for durations. Useful as a debugging aid.

GRAMMAR

       The grammar handling has been rewritten to be easily extendable and hence everybody is encouraged to
       propose sensible new additions and/or changes.

       See the classes "DateTime::Format::Natural::Lang::[language_code]" if you're intending to hack a bit on
       the grammar guts.

EXAMPLES

       See the classes "DateTime::Format::Natural::Lang::[language_code]" for an overview of currently valid
       input.

BUGS & CAVEATS

       "parse_datetime()"/"parse_datetime_duration()" always return one or two DateTime objects regardless
       whether the parse was successful or not. In case no valid expression was found or a failure occurred, an
       unaltered DateTime object with its initial values (most often the "current" now) is likely to be
       returned. It is therefore recommended to use "success()" to assert that the parse did succeed (at least,
       for common uses), otherwise the absence of a parse failure cannot be guaranteed.

       "parse_datetime()" is not capable of handling durations.

CREDITS

       Thanks to Tatsuhiko Miyagawa for the initial inspiration. See Miyagawa's journal entry
       <http://use.perl.org/~miyagawa/journal/31378> for more information.

       Furthermore, thanks to (in order of appearance) who have contributed valuable suggestions and patches:

        Clayton L. Scott
        Dave Rolsky
        CPAN Author 'SEKIMURA'
        mike (pulsation)
        Mark Stosberg
        Tuomas Jormola
        Cory Watson
        Urs Stotz
        Shawn M. Moore
        Andreas J. Koenig
        Chia-liang Kao
        Jonny Schulz
        Jesse Vincent
        Jason May
        Pat Kale
        Ankur Gupta
        Alex Bowley
        Elliot Shank
        Anirvan Chatterjee
        Michael Reddick
        Christian Brink
        Giovanni Pensa
        Andrew Sterling Hanenkamp
        Eric Wilhelm
        Kevin Field
        Wes Morgan
        Vladimir Marek
        Rod Taylor
        Tim Esselens
        Colm Dougan
        Chifung Fan
        Xiao Yafeng
        Roman Filippov

SEE ALSO

       dateparse, DateTime, Date::Calc, <http://datetime.perl.org>

AUTHOR

       Steven Schubiger <schubiger@cpan.org>

LICENSE

       This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
       itself.

       See <http://dev.perl.org/licenses/>