Introduction to the strToDate Function

If you need to convert a string to a date object in your application, the strToDate function can help you achieve this. This function is commonly used in programming languages like JavaScript, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.

Syntax

The syntax of the strToDate function varies between languages, but generally involves passing a string as an argument and specifying the format of the date string. Here are some examples:

JavaScript

new Date(Date.parse(strToDate("10/20/2021", "MM/DD/YYYY")));

MySQL

SELECT STR_TO_DATE('2021-10-20', '%Y-%m-%d');

PostgreSQL

SELECT to_date('10/20/2021', 'MM/DD/YYYY');

Arguments

The strToDate function usually takes two arguments: the date string to be parsed and the format of the date string. The format codes used in the format string depend on the language being used, but some common ones include:

• %Y - year with century as a decimal number
• %m - month as a decimal number (01-12)
• %d - day of the month as a decimal number (01-31)
• %H - hour as a decimal number (00-23)
• %M - minute as a decimal number (00-59)
• %S - second as a decimal number (00-59)

Example

Here is an example of how to use the strToDate function in JavaScript:

const dateStr = "10/20/2021";
const formatStr = "MM/DD/YYYY";
const dateObj = new Date(Date.parse(strToDate(dateStr, formatStr)));
console.log(dateObj);

This will output a Date object corresponding to the date string:

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Conclusion

The strToDate function provides an easy way to convert a date string to a date object in many programming languages. By specifying the format string, you can ensure that the date is parsed correctly regardless of the user's locale.