Date Time Format in Flutter dd/MM/YYYY hh:mm

In today’s digital world, displaying dates and times is a crucial aspect of many applications. For developers using the popular mobile app development framework, Flutter, formatting date and time can be achieved through various methods. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the different approaches to format date and time in Flutter, specifically focusing on the ‘dd/MM/YYYY hh:mm’ format.

Introduction

Date and time formatting is a fundamental requirement for many applications, including calendars, event planners, and scheduling tools. In Flutter, this can be achieved through various methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this post, we’ll explore the different ways to format date and time in Flutter.

Method 1: Using the intl Package

The first method involves using the popular intl package, which provides a comprehensive set of tools for formatting dates and times. To use this package, you can add the following line of code to your project’s pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter
  intl: ^0.17.0

Once installed, you can import the intl package in your Dart file and use the DateFormat class to format dates and times.

final f = new DateFormat('yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm');
Text(f.format(new DateTime.fromMillisecondsSinceEpoch(values[index]["start_time"]*1000)));

This code snippet uses the DateFormat class to format a date and time in the ‘dd/MM/YYYY hh:mm’ format. The values list is assumed to contain an array of objects with a ‘start_time’ property, which represents the start time of an event.

Method 2: Using the DateTime Class

An alternative method involves using the built-in DateTime class in Dart. This approach does not require any additional packages and can be used to format dates and times directly. However, it may not offer as much flexibility as the intl package.

Example Code Snippet

var date = DateTime(2022, 1, 31, 23, 59);
Text(date.toString());

This code snippet uses the DateTime class to create a date and time object and then prints it in its default format.

Method 3: Using the Intl Package (Alternative Approach)

An alternative approach using the intl package is demonstrated below. This method involves parsing an input string in one format and outputting it in another format.

Example Code Snippet

var inputFormat = DateFormat('dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm');
var inputDate = inputFormat.parse('31/12/2000 23:59'); // <-- dd/MM 24H format

var outputFormat = DateFormat('MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm a');
var outputDate = outputFormat.format(inputDate);
print(outputDate); // 12/31/2000 11:59 PM <-- MM/dd 12H format

This code snippet demonstrates how to parse an input string in the ‘dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm’ format and output it in the ‘MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm a’ format using the intl package.

Conclusion

We’ve explored three different methods for formatting date and time in Flutter. The first method involves using the popular intl package, while the second method uses the built-in DateTime class. The third method demonstrates an alternative approach using the intl package to parse input strings in one format and output them in another format.

Each of these approaches has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your specific requirements.