# Is there a way to AutoParse a string to another type - e.g. if a Date format then date, else if inte **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120 "2008-08-06T06:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/1 "2008-08-06T06:56:18Z")
Hi, Is there a way to AutoParse a string to another type - e.g. if a Date format then date, else if integer than Integer etc I’m wanting to pass search parameters via a URL, however since everything in the URL will be a string it would be good to automatically convert a string to the most likely variable type. In particular differentiating between an Integer and a Date. Does this exist somewhere in Ruby already? Or do I have to write myself? Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/2 "2008-08-06T07:19:06Z")
On Aug 5, 2008, at 10:53 PM, Greg H. wrote: > Does this exist somewhere in Ruby already? Or do I have to write > myself? require ‘date’ value = Date.parse(string) rescue Integer(string) a @ [http://codeforpeople.com/](http://codeforpeople.com/) ---
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/3 "2008-08-06T07:27:17Z")
thanks - in one line too…so I could do in fact then I guess: ``` value = Date.parse(string) rescue Integer(string) rescue ``` Float(string) rescue string ---
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/4 "2008-08-06T07:53:01Z")
umm…Date parse doesn’t seem to be that good, for example see below > > Loading development environment (Rails 2.1.0) ?\> Date.parse(“123”, “%d/%m/%Y”) =\> Fri, 02 May 2008 > > Date.parse(“123”, “%d/%m/%Y”).class > > =\> Date > > > ---
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/5 "2008-08-06T18:55:09Z")
On Aug 5, 2008, at 11:50 PM, Greg H. wrote: > umm…Date parse doesn’t seem to be that good, for example see below yup - you may have to constrain what you parse with a pattern. you might also try Time.parse as it’s a little more strict. a @ [http://codeforpeople.com/](http://codeforpeople.com/) ---
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/6 "2008-08-06T15:55:50Z")
On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 12:50 AM, Greg H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > umm…Date parse doesn’t seem to be that good, for example see below > > > > Loading development environment (Rails 2.1.0) > > ?\> Date.parse(“123”, “%d/%m/%Y”) > =\> Fri, 02 May 2008 > > > > Date.parse(“123”, “%d/%m/%Y”).class > > > =\> Date As far as I can tell, Date.parse doesn’t really want a format string as the second argument. And Date.parse is working great in your example, it gave you a date corresponding to the 123rd day of this year. 🙂 If you’re not sure whether your input string is actually a date, you might be more interested in Date.strptime: irb(main):012:0\> value = Date.strptime(“123”, “%d/%m/%y”) rescue Integer(“123”) =\> 123 irb(main):013:0\> value.class =\> Fixnum -Michael ---
**Author:** ![greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/71c47a/32.png) [@greg](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/greg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-autoparse-a-string-to-another-type-e-g-if-a-date-format-then-date-else-if-inte/145120/7 "2008-08-06T15:52:54Z")
On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 1:50 AM, Greg H. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > umm…Date parse doesn’t seem to be that good, for example see below > > > > Loading development environment (Rails 2.1.0) > > ?\> Date.parse(“123”, “%d/%m/%Y”) > =\> Fri, 02 May 2008 > > > > Date.parse(“123”, “%d/%m/%Y”).class > > > =\> Date FWIW, it is assuming you want the 123rd day of the year. Michael G.