LbDate

JavaScript Date's serialization helper. Provides an easy way for keeping the timezone after stringification and much more.

LbDate uses ISO 8601 standards.

Example

lbDate.init();
const result = JSON.stringify({ date: new Date() });
console.log(result);

// {"date":"2020-04-01T03:00:00.000+03:00"}

Installation

npm i lbdate

CDN

URL	ES	Minified
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lbdate@1.5.1/bundles/lbdate.umd.js	ES2015	No
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lbdate@1.5.1/bundles/lbdate.umd.min.js	ES2015	Yes
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lbdate@1.5.1/bundles/lbdate.umd.es5.js	ES5	No
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lbdate@1.5.1/bundles/lbdate.umd.es5.min.js	ES5	Yes

Playground

Click here to check the Playground.

Documentation

Initialization

The init method will override the toJSON method that's on the JavaScript Date's prototype object and will allow you to manipulate the serialization result. This is the preferred way to use lbDate if you want just to 'write once and forget'.

import lbDate from "lbdate";

lbDate.init();

Remember, the native method is stored under different method name (which is configurable) and can be restored at any time by calling lbDate.restore().

Using options:

• The lbDate object can also be called as a method and it can be provided with options for customized serialization.
• Those options provided to lbDate will also extend the global and the default settings.
• After providing lbDate with options and calling the init method, those options will be stored as the new global settings.

import lbDate from "lbdate";

const options = {
  precision: 0,
  toNativeJsonName: "myNameForIt",
  timezone: TimeZoneOptions.manual,
  manualTimeZoneOffset: -120,
};

lbDate(options).init();

Note: calling lbDate.init() is the same as calling lbDate().init() with no options.

"Moment" support:

import lbDate from "lbdate";
import moment from "moment";

lbDate.init(moment);

This will force "moment" to use LbDate's serialization automatically, resulting the same behavior serializing moment object. Also, when using lbDate.restore() it will revert any changes done to "moment".

Options

interface LbDateOptions {
  timezone: TimeZoneOptions;
  manualTimeZoneOffset: number | null;
  toNativeJsonName: string;
  precision: number;
}

const enum TimeZoneOptions {
  auto = "Auto",
  utc = "UTC",
  none = "None",
  manual = "Manual",
}

• timezone: {TimeZoneOptions or string} Allows you to configure time zone preferences. Note: If you are not using TypeScript, you can configure TimeZoneOptions using strings. Like so: 'Auto', 'UTC', 'None' or 'Manual'.
  • auto: (default) Will add time zone offset to date's ISO string based on client's time zone. *"2020-04-01T03:30:15.123+03:00"
  • UTC: Will keep the **'Z' letter at the end of the ISO string. This is actually the default behavior of JavaScript. *"2020-04-01T00:30:15.123Z"
  • none: Will remove the **'Z' symbol from the end of the ISO string and will not add any time zone to it. *"2020-04-01T03:30:15.123"
  • manual: Will allow you to set the time zone manually using manualTimeZoneOffset option.
• manualTimeZoneOffset: {number} (default = null) (range: -840 to 840) Allows you to configure manually the time zone offset in minutes. The value should represent the number of minutes you need to add or subtract to reach UTC time. For example: -90 minutes will result: *"2020-04-01T02:00:15.123+01:30"
• toNativeJsonName: {string} (default = 'toNativeJSON') While LbDate is initializing, it will clone the native toJSON method to this given name and will store it on the Date's prototype so you can still access the original method in your app if you need so. ***
• precision: {number} (default = 3) (range: 0 to 3) The number of second fraction digits. For example, the value 2 will result: *"2020-04-01T03:30:15.12+03:00"

* Date used: Wed Apr 01 2020 03:30:15 GMT+0300 (Israel Daylight Time) {}.

** The 'Z' letter at the end of a date's ISO string symbols UTC time.

*** If you want to access the toNativeJSON method and you are using TypeScript, you can create a declaration file in your main project's folder. Like so:

src/global.d.ts

declare global {
  interface Date {
    toNativeJSON(this: Date): string;
  }
}

export {};

Scoped Run

This method allows you to use different serialization configurations for different sections of your app.

• This method takes a function as a parameter, and runs it immediately based on the provided options.
• The provided options are temporary and are scoped only for this run.
• The provided options will be merged with the global and the default options.
• Can be provided with a Moment's object as a second argument so that moments will also be effected.

const obj = {
  date: new Date(),
};

function stringifyObject(o) {
  return lbDate(options).run(() => JSON.stringify(o));
}

console.log(stringifyObject(obj));

// {"date":"2020-04-01T03:00:00.000+03:00"}

Single date's toJSON method override

If you don't want to override the date's prototype method by using lbDate.init() you can override the toJSON method of a single Date's object instance.

Using the toJSON property:

const date = new Date();
date.toJSON = lbDate.toJSON;
console.log(date.toJSON());

// "2020-04-01T03:00:00.000+03:00"

Or with the override method:

const date = lbDate.override(new Date());
console.log(date.toJSON());

// "2020-04-01T03:00:00.000+03:00"

• Both functionalities can also be provided with options which will be merged with the global and the default options. Like so: lbDate(options).override(date)
• Both can also be used on moment dates.

Remember: the global options are the options provided by lbDate(options).init(). If those options weren't provided, then it will just use the default options for extending.

const myDate = new Date();
myDate.toJSON = lbDate(options).toJSON;
// or
const date = lbDate(options).override(new Date());

Get Replacer

This methods allows you to generate a replacer function that can be user with JSON.stringify.

• Supports moment.

lbDate.getReplacer();
//or
lbDate(options).getReplacer();

If you already using a replacer function of your own, you can combine your replacer with LbDate's replacer simply by providing it as an argument like so: lbDate.getReplacer(myReplacer). Your replacer will be called every time after LbDate's replacer is called.

Get Current Configurations

Returns the current global configurations that were set by the last init.

lbDate.getGlobalConfig();

Returns the default LbDate configurations:

lbDate.getDefaultConfig();

Restore

Undo any changes made by lbDate.init() to your environment.

• Restores the native toJSON method.
• Removes the global options.
• Reverts changes done to "moment" if any.

lbDate.restore();

Browser / Platform Support

• All current browsers (major versions from the last 2 years) are supported.
• Node.JS support.
• Source files are included in 'node_modules\lbdate\src'.
• UMD bundles* are included in 'node_modules\lbdate\bundles'.
• IE11** ES5 syntax support.

* Both ES5 and ES2015 UMD bundles are included and both have minified and non-minified versions. In all bundles the global would be lbDate.

** For IE11 you may need additional polyfills.

Licence

• MIT Licence
• Copyright (c) 2020 Leon Bernstein.