Show date as per Local format

Question

I want to show the date as per Local format of different country.

I got the code from here: Get the user's date format? (DMY, MDY, YMD)

NSString *base = @"MM/dd/yyyy";
NSLocale *locale = [NSLocale currentLocale];
NSString *format = [NSDateFormatter dateFormatFromTemplate:base options:0 locale:locale];

But how can I fetch the order of dd,mm,yyyy from the format?

Answer 1

This will get you the format of the currentLocale :

NSString *dateComponents = @"ddMMyyyy";
NSLocale *locale = [NSLocale currentLocale];
NSString* format = [NSDateFormatter dateFormatFromTemplate:dateComponents options:0 locale:locale];

To print a NSDate object in the right format for the currentLocale try this:

NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
NSLocale *locale = [NSLocale currentLocale];
[dateFormatter setLocale:locale];

NSString *dateComponents = @"ddMMyyyy";
NSString* format = [NSDateFormatter dateFormatFromTemplate:dateComponents options:0 locale:locale];

NSDate* date = [NSDate date];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:format];

NSString *newDateString = [dateFormatter stringFromDate:date];
NSLog(@"Current date for locale: %@", newDateString);

If you really want the number-order of the dd, MM and yyyy elements it can be done like the following code. It is not(!) pretty and I really think you should reconsider if it is necessary to get the order of the elements.

NSString *dateComponents = @"ddMMyyyy";
NSLocale *locale = [NSLocale currentLocale];
NSString* format = [NSDateFormatter dateFormatFromTemplate:dateComponents options:0 locale:locale];

int currentOrder = -1;
int nextIndex = 0;

int dd = -1;
int MM = -1;
int yyyy = -1;

NSString* workingSubstring;

while (dd == -1 || MM == -1 || yyyy == -1)
{
    workingSubstring = [[format substringFromIndex:nextIndex] substringToIndex:2];

    if ([workingSubstring isEqualToString:@"dd"])
    {
        dd = ++currentOrder;
        nextIndex += 3;
    }
    else if ([workingSubstring isEqualToString:@"MM"])
    {
        MM = ++currentOrder;
        nextIndex += 3;
    }
    else if ([workingSubstring isEqualToString:@"yy"])
    {
        yyyy = ++currentOrder;
        nextIndex += 5;
    }
}

NSLog(@"dd: %d, MM: %d, yyyy: %d", dd, MM, yyyy);