how to display Date and Time in a well mannered format

Question

if I want to retrieve the date and time from db and show it in format

"2 mins ago, just now, or 6 months ago" kinda etc.,

how can i do it.. :)

Can any one suggest me how to do this please,

Yea but there might be a simpler way doing it. Not getting exactly how to do it.. :( — Guruprasad J Rao, Jun 22 '13 at 11:01
@Kaushik this link can be helpful http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11/how-do-i-calculate-relative-time — Sirwan Afifi, Jun 22 '13 at 11:03

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 22 '13 at 11:09

2

string gettime(DateTime updatedat)
{
     string toren = "A moment earlier";
     TimeSpan ts = DateTime.Now - updatedat;
     if (ts.TotalSeconds<60)
     {
          toren = ts.TotalSeconds.ToString() + " seconds ago";
     }
     else if (ts.TotalMinutes < 60)
     {
          toren = ts.TotalMinutes.ToString() + " minutes ago";
     }
     else if (ts.TotalHours < 24)
     {
          toren = ts.TotalHours.ToString() + " hours ago";
     }
     else if (ts.TotalDays < 30)
     {
          toren = ts.TotalDays.ToString() + " days ago";
     }
     else 
     {
          double month = ts.TotalDays / 30;
          if (month<13)
          {
               toren = month.ToString() + " months ago";
          }
          else
          {
               double year = month / 12;
               toren = year.ToString() + " years ago";
          }
     }
     return toren;
}

Change/Optimize it according to your need.

answered Jun 22 '13 at 11:09

Ratna

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this solution is not supporting singulars (like 'one minute ago') – Fabian Bigler Jun 22 '13 at 11:15
you will need to add one more if condition for that, therefore i have written you will need to optimise it according to your need. – Ratna Jun 22 '13 at 11:18
@Ratna.. What condition..? – Guruprasad J Rao Jun 22 '13 at 11:32
@Fabian Bigler.. Dat will do... :) thanks alot.. :) – Guruprasad J Rao Jun 22 '13 at 11:58

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

Quoted answer from here:

const int SECOND = 1;
const int MINUTE = 60 * SECOND;
const int HOUR = 60 * MINUTE;
const int DAY = 24 * HOUR;
const int MONTH = 30 * DAY;

if (delta < 0)
{
  return "not yet";
}
if (delta < 1 * MINUTE)
{
  return ts.Seconds == 1 ? "one second ago" : ts.Seconds + " seconds ago";
}
if (delta < 2 * MINUTE)
{
  return "a minute ago";
}
if (delta < 45 * MINUTE)
{
  return ts.Minutes + " minutes ago";
}
if (delta < 90 * MINUTE)
{
  return "an hour ago";
}
if (delta < 24 * HOUR)
{
  return ts.Hours + " hours ago";
}
if (delta < 48 * HOUR)
{
  return "yesterday";
}
if (delta < 30 * DAY)
{
  return ts.Days + " days ago";
}
if (delta < 12 * MONTH)
{
  int months = Convert.ToInt32(Math.Floor((double)ts.Days / 30));
  return months <= 1 ? "one month ago" : months + " months ago";
}
else
{
  int years = Convert.ToInt32(Math.Floor((double)ts.Days / 365));
  return years <= 1 ? "one year ago" : years + " years ago";
}

And yes, I do quote. Because this answer meets exactly what the PO wants. :)

EDIT: Question by PO: One more thing.. What if I am retrieving the date and time field from database. How can I imply this code?

Without knowing your structure or code, it would look something like this:

var cmd = new SqlCommand(yourConnection);
cmd.CommandText = "SELECT yourDateColumn FROM yourTable";
using (var sr = cmd.ExecuteReader)
{
  if (sr.Read)
  {
    var yourDateTime = sr.GetDateTime(0);
  }
}

One more thing.. What if I am retrieving the date and time field from database.. How can I imply this code.. — Guruprasad J Rao, Jun 22 '13 at 11:18
@Kaushik updated my answer accordingly. Though this is more sort of a pseudo code because I don't know about your data structure or anything. — Fabian Bigler, Jun 22 '13 at 11:27

how to display Date and Time in a well mannered format

2 Answers2