Managing date fields retrieved from a REST Api in AngularJS

Question

Managing date fields retrieved from a REST Api in AngularJS

One of the challenges I'm facing involves a REST API that sends back JSON data with dates formatted in ISO-8601 style: yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss:

{
    id: 4
    version: 3
    code: "ADSFASDF"
    definition: "asdflkj"
    type: "CONTAINER"
    value: "1234"
    active: "false"
    formula: false
    validTo: "2014-12-31T05:00:00"
    validFrom: "2010-12-31T10:00:00"
}

My dilemma lies in handling this within AngularJS. I use a $resource for interacting with my API endpoints, but when the data is returned, it is stored as a String in my JavaScript object. I believe it would be more convenient to manage these dates as Date() or Moment() objects.

In Java, a JsonDeserializer can be used to ensure proper conversion of all JSON data before assigning it to the model. However, I'm unsure if there's an equivalent mechanism in AngularJS.

Although I've done some research, I haven't found a generalized solution to implement. While utilizing a transformResponse function in my $resource is an option, it seems like repetitive configuration for each date-containing data type.

This situation prompts me to question whether returning dates in ISO-8601 format is the most effective approach. If AngularJS lacks native support, there must be a simpler way to handle dates. How do you handle dates in AngularJS? Should they be treated purely as text/string objects and have the API return a pre-formatted version? If so, what is the optimal format for flexibility in an HTML5 date input box, among other uses?

javascript json angularjs rest date

Answer 1

Answer №1

When working with JSON data, it's important to note that JSON does not inherently support dates. To handle dates in JSON, you will need to send them as strings or integers and then convert them to Date objects when necessary. Angular does not automatically perform this conversion for you, but you can create a custom transformResponse function within the $httpProvider. I experimented with using this approach with $resource, and found that it also had an impact since $resource is built on top of $http.

If you are unsure about the structure of your JSON data or prefer not to rely on it during the conversion process, you can iterate through the data and manually convert date-like strings into Date objects.

var convertDates = function(input) {
  for (var key in input) {
    if (!input.hasOwnProperty(key)) continue;

    if (typeof input[key] === "object") {
      convertDates(input[key]);
    } else {
      if (typeof input[key] === "string" && /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}$/.test(input[key])) {
        input[key] = new Date(input[key]);
      }
    }
  }
}

app.config(["$httpProvider", function ($httpProvider) {
   $httpProvider.defaults.transformResponse.push(function(responseData){
     convertDates(responseData);
     return responseData;
  });
}]);

Keep in mind that depending on your application, this approach may not be ideal from a performance standpoint. If only a few JSON responses contain dates or require date conversion, it may be better to handle the conversion specifically in those controllers where it is needed.

Answer 2

When working with JSON data, it's important to note that JSON does not inherently support dates. To handle dates in JSON, you will need to send them as strings or integers and then convert them to Date objects when necessary. Angular does not automatically perform this conversion for you, but you can create a custom transformResponse function within the $httpProvider. I experimented with using this approach with $resource, and found that it also had an impact since $resource is built on top of $http.

If you are unsure about the structure of your JSON data or prefer not to rely on it during the conversion process, you can iterate through the data and manually convert date-like strings into Date objects.

var convertDates = function(input) {
  for (var key in input) {
    if (!input.hasOwnProperty(key)) continue;

    if (typeof input[key] === "object") {
      convertDates(input[key]);
    } else {
      if (typeof input[key] === "string" && /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}$/.test(input[key])) {
        input[key] = new Date(input[key]);
      }
    }
  }
}

app.config(["$httpProvider", function ($httpProvider) {
   $httpProvider.defaults.transformResponse.push(function(responseData){
     convertDates(responseData);
     return responseData;
  });
}]);

Keep in mind that depending on your application, this approach may not be ideal from a performance standpoint. If only a few JSON responses contain dates or require date conversion, it may be better to handle the conversion specifically in those controllers where it is needed.

Managing date fields retrieved from a REST Api in AngularJS

Answer №1

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