IOS: Convert a NSDate object into a string to get the current time

Question

I'm Using NSOutputStream to output data from the client (IOS device) To the server (PC Device). In the following code I'm Outputting some data using outputStream and(this code is working 100% )

 NSString *response  = @" Today's Sunny  \n  ";
 NSData *data = [[NSData alloc] initWithData:[response dataUsingEncoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding]];
 [outputStream write:[data bytes] maxLength:[data length]];

I would like to do the same thing using Outputstream to output the current time like (09:24.00) in this format (hh:mm:ss)

Here what i have tried

  NSDate *currentTime = [NSDate date]; 
  NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
  [formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm:ss"];
  //outputstream here

I would really appreciate your help in this matter

@trojanfoe yes, i'm trying to output the current time in NSDateFormatter using outputstream — Assam AlZookery, May 09 '16 at 13:44
There are literally thousands of questions about that on this site. Also you need to change your question as it's nothing to do with `NSOutputStream`. — trojanfoe, May 09 '16 at 13:45
@trojanfoe agree with u,but i didn't fine something that show how to output the current time using outputstream similar to what i did in *response — Assam AlZookery, May 09 '16 at 13:49
It's got nothing to do with outputstream. You know how to write a string to the output stream so your question is how to convert a `NSDate` object into a string. — trojanfoe, May 09 '16 at 13:50
@trojanfoe yes, you're correct, can you please show me how to do that — Assam AlZookery, May 09 '16 at 13:53
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/111442/discussion-between-assam-al-zookery-and-trojanfoe). — Assam AlZookery, May 09 '16 at 13:55

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 09 '16 at 14:08

1

You need to convert the date to a string and then add it to your output stream.

Use:

NSDate *currentTime = [NSDate date]; 
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
[formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm:ss"];
NSString *timeString = [formatter stringFromDate:currentTime];

You can then send timeString in your output stream

answered May 09 '16 at 14:08

Adam Richardson

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DO you have any knolwge to solve this question for me http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37141410/ios-how-to-reconnect-to-the-server-pc-after-its-got-disconnected – Assam AlZookery May 10 '16 at 15:27

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Take a look at this, it has everything you need about date programming on iOS http://rypress.com/tutorials/objective-c/data-types/dates

Updated with some code samples:

Converting current time from NSDate to NSString:

NSDate *currentTime = [NSDate date]; 
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];

[dateFormatter setCalendar:[NSCalendar currentCalendar]];
[dateFormatter setTimeZone:[NSTimeZone defaultTimeZone]];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:@"M.d.y"];

NSString *stringResult = [dateFormatter stringFromDate:currentTime];

Setting Calendar and TimeZone is optional, but if could use them if needed. You also have different optionals for them, like NSCalendarIdentifierGregorian, timeZoneForSecondsFromGMT:, etc.

You have many options for dateFormat, for example

M/d/y --> 11/4/2012

MM/dd/yy --> 11/04/12

MMM d, ''yy --> Nov 4, '12

h:mm a --> 8:09 PM

Alternatively, you can instead use dateStyle and timeStyle

[dateFormatter setDateStyle:NSDateFormatterMediumStyle];
[dateFormatter setTimeStyle:NSDateFormatterShortStyle];

While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - [From Review](/review/low-quality-posts/12294505) — Eiko, May 09 '16 at 18:45
@Eiko alright. updated with some code samples and explanation — Stephenye, May 09 '16 at 19:19

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 09 '16 at 15:49

If someone need the code of Assam + Adam in Swift, here it is :

var currentTime:NSDate  = NSDate.date()

var formatter:NSDateFormatter  = NSDateFormatter.alloc().init()
formatter.setDateFormat("hh:mm:ss")

var timeString:NSString  = formatter.stringFromDate(currentTime)
outputStream.write(timeString.UTF8String(),maxLength:timeString.lengthOfBytesUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding))

score -2 · Answer 4 · answered May 09 '16 at 14:18

-2

Here's the Complete answer, Thanks to @Adam

NSDate *currentTime = [NSDate date];
    NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
    [formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm:ss"];
    NSString *timeString = [formatter stringFromDate:currentTime];
    [outputStream write:[timeString UTF8String]
              maxLength:[timeString lengthOfBytesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];

answered May 09 '16 at 14:18

Assam AlZookery

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12 hour clock? Is that what you wanted? – trojanfoe May 09 '16 at 14:20
@trojanfoe yes, time format is in 12hrs – Assam AlZookery May 09 '16 at 14:30

IOS: Convert a NSDate object into a string to get the current time

4 Answers4