Formatting Dates with Angular Date Pipe

When working with dates in Angular, it is often necessary to format the date in a specific way. This can include changing the format of the date, displaying only specific parts of the date, or using a specific time zone. Fortunately, Angular provides a powerful tool for formatting dates called the Date Pipe.

What is the Date Pipe?

The Date Pipe is a built-in pipe in Angular that can be used to format dates. It takes a date as input and can be used to display the date in a variety of formats. The Date Pipe is part of the Angular Common module, which is automatically imported when creating a new Angular application. This means that the Date Pipe can be used immediately without any additional setup.

Using the Date Pipe

To use the Date Pipe, it must be imported into the component where it will be used. This is typically done in the component decorator by adding an import statement for the Date Pipe:

“`javascript
import { DatePipe } from ‘@angular/common’;
“`

Once the Date Pipe is imported, it can be used in the component template by using the pipe operator (“|”) and passing the date as input:

“`html

The date is {{ date | date}}

“`

This will display the date in its default format. However, the Date Pipe can be used to format the date in a variety of ways.

Date Pipe Options

The Date Pipe has several options that can be used to format the date in different ways. These options are passed as arguments to the pipe operator and can be used in different combinations to format the date as desired.

Format

The “format” option is used to specify the format in which the date should be displayed. This can include the year, month, day, time, and more. The format is passed as a string, and different characters are used to specify different parts of the date. For example:

“`html

The date is {{ date | date: ‘yyyy/MM/dd’}}

“`

The above code will display the date in the format “yyyy/MM/dd”, which is year/month/day.

Time Zone

The “timeZone” option is used to specify the time zone in which the date should be displayed. It is passed as a string, and can be any valid time zone name or offset. For example:

“`html

The date is {{ date | date: ‘yyyy/MM/dd’ : ‘UTC’}}

“`

The above code will display the date in the UTC time zone.

Locale

The “locale” option is used to specify the locale in which the date should be displayed. It is passed as a string, and can be any valid locale name. For example:

“`html

The date is {{ date | date: ‘yyyy/MM/dd’ : ‘UTC’ : ‘fr’}}

“`

The above code will display the date in the French locale.

FAQs

Can the Date Pipe be used with custom date formats?

Yes, custom date formats can be used by passing a string that specifies the desired format, as shown above.

Can the Date Pipe be used to display only the time portion of a date?

Yes, the Date Pipe can be used to display only the time portion of a date by passing the format string “HH:mm:ss” to the pipe operator.

Can the Date Pipe be used to display a relative time, such as “23 hours ago”?

No, the Date Pipe does not support displaying relative times. However, there are third-party libraries available that can be used for this purpose.