Converting Date to text

Question

I'm trying to write code that will have a Date be converted to text such as "8:00 AM" not sure where I'm tripping up. I'm using http://labs.codecademy.com/#:workspace to test this code.

var today = new Date(); 

   function calculateMeridian(num){
    if (num < 12) {
        return "AM";
    } else if (num < 24) {
        return "PM";
    } else if (num > 24)
        console.log("calculateMeridian error: num too large, num not in hours");
        return "error";
}

 function convertMStoText(date) { //input as milliseconds, can't seem to input as actual date
    var x = new Date(date); 
    var h = x.getHours; //change to let
    var m = x.getMinutes;
    var meridian = calculateMeridian(h);
    console.log(h + ":" + m + " " + meridian);
}


convertMStoText(today);

Output:

function getHours() { [native code] }:function getMinutes() { [native code] } error

Output Image:

What is the value of *date* in `new Date(date)`? Using the built-in parser is strongly recommended against. Also, using am/pm you should mod the hours value and pad single digit minutes with a leading zero. Probably a duplicate of [*Where can I find documentation on formatting a date in JavaScript?*](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1056728/where-can-i-find-documentation-on-formatting-a-date-in-javascript) — RobG, Dec 25 '17 at 08:09

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 24 '17 at 17:33

2

var h = x.getHours;
var m = x.getMinutes;

needs to be

var h = x.getHours();
var m = x.getMinutes();

answered Dec 24 '17 at 17:33

dave

62,300
5
72
93

In Javascript, functions (or methods, pick your term) are values like any other. `x.getHours` is a function, and you can assign it to `h`, but that doesn't _call_ it. To call a function, you need to put parentheses after it, which is what you're missing here. (You could, in fact, try something like`var h = x.getHours; h();` but the result wouldn't be the same because the version of `getHours` pointed to by `h` doesn't remember that it goes with `x`; you could remind it by calling `h.apply(x)`.) – Mark Reed Dec 24 '17 at 17:44

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 24 '17 at 17:34

The computer outputs exactly what you asked it to.

Look at this line:

var h = x.getHours;

If assigns a function to h. What you intended was a function call, assigning the result returned by the function:

var h = x.getHours();

It reads: "call method getHours on on object x passing no parameters". This is what the empty parens are for.

Same with minutes.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 24 '17 at 17:45

Update your function:

function convertMStoText(date) { //input as milliseconds, can't seem to input as actual date
    var x = new Date(date); 
    var h = x.getHours(); //change to let
    var m = x.getMinutes();
    var meridian = calculateMeridian(h);
    console.log(h + ":" + m + " " + meridian);
}

getHours() and getMinutes() are functions.

Converting Date to text

3 Answers3