Saving XMLSchema datetime into sqlite/mysql

Rails
#1

Hello everyone,

I’ve been struggling with something that is probably very simple.

I need to save an entry from an atom feed that has a datetime string
like this:
2010-07-20T11:49:19.000Z
which is an XMLSchema date time.

I’ve tried many variations around:

glog.elements.each(“published”) do |element|
@snapshot.entrycreated =
Time.xmlschema(element.text).to_s(:db)
end

If I save that to a regular string I get what looks correct to me:
“2010-07-20 11:49:19”
but saved in the entrycreated column it outputs as: “Sat Jan 01
11:49:19 UTC 2000”

Can anyone help me with the correct code to save this datetime
correctly pleased.

In case it’s relevant, on my dev machine I have sqlite. Eventually it
will be on mysql.
Thanks for any help,
Steve

#2

Time.zone.parse might be your friend here:

date = Time.zone.parse(‘2010-07-20T11:49:19.000Z’)
date = Time.zone.parse(‘2010-07-20T11:49:19.000Z’)
=> Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:49:19 UTC +00:00

date.to_s(:db)
date.to_s(:db)
=> “2010-07-20 11:49:19”

date.class.name
date.class.name
=> “ActiveSupport::TimeWithZone”

Rails extensions to Time and Date classes can take a bit to work out
in certain circumstances.

Hope that helps,
Walter

#3

Oh, to finish up. Time.parse looks to be sufficient for what you are
after, too.

date = Time.parse(‘2010-07-20T11:49:19.000Z’)
date = Time.parse(‘2010-07-20T11:49:19.000Z’)
=> Tue Jul 20 11:49:19 UTC 2010

date.class.name
date.class.name
=> “Time”

date.to_s(:db)
date.to_s(:db)
=> “2010-07-20 11:49:19”

IIRC, the ActiveSupport::TimeWithZone class is better at handling
pre-1900 dates than Rails extension of the Time class.

Cheers,
Walter

On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 2:36 PM, Walter McGinnis

#4

On Jul 20, 9:31 pm, Steve R. [email protected] wrote:

If I save that to a regular string I get what looks correct to me:
“2010-07-20 11:49:19”
but saved in the entrycreated column it outputs as: “Sat Jan 01
11:49:19 UTC 2000”

Is you entrycreated column a time column ? Time columns only save a
time of day (and ignore the date), what you want is a datetime column.

Fred

#5

On 21 July, 08:08, Frederick C. [email protected]
wrote:

Fred

Thanks! It was a simple as that. I’m sure I’d already checked my
migration was creating a t.datetime column, but checking now it had
t.time

#6

On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 1:31 PM, Steve R. [email protected] wrote:

If I save that to a regular string I get what looks correct to me:
“2010-07-20 11:49:19”
but saved in the entrycreated column it outputs as: “Sat Jan 01
11:49:19 UTC 2000”

How are you trying to save this? As a string?

bird = Bird.first
=> #<Bird id: 2, common_name: “hummingbird”, species: “hoverus
buzzus”, migratory: true, created_at: “2010-03-05 21:08:36”,
updated_at: “2010-05-28 14:40:52”, primary_food: “nectar”,
secondary_food: “”>

whenever = bird.created_at
=> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:08:36 UTC 00:00

whenever.class
=> ActiveSupport::TimeWithZone

So not a string here…

dt = DateTime.now
=> Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:12:54 -0700

bird.created_at = dt
=> Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:12:54 -0700

bird.save
=> true

So maybe you want to convert your string to a DateTime object and
save that? Just one possibility :slight_smile:

–
Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]
twitter: @hassan