The DateFormat class allows you to format dates and times with
predefined styles in a locale-sensitive manner. Formatting times
with the DateFormat class is similar to formatting dates.
Formatting dates with the DateFormat class is a two-step process.
First, you create a formatter with the getDateInstance method.
Second, you invoke the format method, which returns a string containing
the formatted date.
DateTime values are formatted using standard or custom patterns stored
in the properties of a DateTimeFormatInfo.
public function testCustomPatterns()
{
$dateFormatter = new DateFormat();
$time = @mktime(9, 9, 9, 9, 1, 2004);
$pattern = "'Hello' EEEE, 'it should be' MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss!!!";
$wants = 'Hello Wednesday, it should be Sep 2004 09:09:09!!!';
$this->assertEquals($wants, $dateFormatter->format($time, $pattern));
}
/**
* Renders the localized version of the date-time value.
* If the culture is not specified, the default application
* culture will be used.
* This method overrides parent's implementation.
*/
protected function getFormattedDate()
{
$value = $this->getValue();
$defaultText = $this->getDefaultText();
if (empty($value) && !empty($defaultText)) {
return $this->getDefaultText();
}
$app = $this->getApplication()->getGlobalization();
//initialized the default class wide formatter
if (self::$formatter === null) {
self::$formatter = new DateFormat($app->getCulture());
}
$culture = $this->getCulture();
//return the specific cultural formatted date time
if (strlen($culture) && $app->getCulture() !== $culture) {
$formatter = new DateFormat($culture);
return $formatter->format($value, $this->getPattern(), $this->getCharset());
}
//return the application wide culture formatted date time.
$result = self::$formatter->format($value, $this->getPattern(), $this->getCharset());
return $result;
}