CkDateTime Dart Reference Documentation

CkDateTime

Current Version: 11.6.1

CkDateTime represents a date/time value and provides conversion methods for common date/time formats, including .NET DateTime, DateTime ticks, RFC 822, RFC 3339 / ISO 8601-style timestamps, Unix time, DOS date/time, OLE DATE, NTP time, ULID timestamps, and Chilkat DtObj. It also supports date arithmetic, age/expiration checks, serialization, and local/UTC conversion.

For an extended overview, see CkDateTime Class Overview

Object Creation

// pubspec.yaml:
//     dependencies:
//       chilkat: ^11.6.1

import 'package:chilkat/chilkat.dart';

// Once per process, before any other Chilkat call:
Chilkat.unlockBundle('Anything for 30-day trial');   // shorthand for CkGlobal().unlockBundle(..)

final dateTime = CkDateTime();
// ... the native object is released when `dateTime` is garbage collected, or now with dateTime.dispose().
CkDateTime CkDateTime()

Creates the underlying native Chilkat object. Use a CkDateTime only from the isolate that created it: Chilkat objects cannot be sent between isolates. Every call is synchronous; in a Flutter app, run long operations (network, large files) inside Isolate.run, creating the Chilkat objects inside the isolate.

void dispose()

Releases the native object immediately instead of waiting for garbage collection (useful for a large CkBinData or an open socket). Calling it more than once is harmless; any other use of the object afterwards throws a StateError. isDisposed tells whether it has been called.

Errors

A method that can fail throws a ChilkatException: a method whose only outcome is success or failure returns void and throws on failure; a method producing a String or an object returns it and throws where Chilkat would have returned null. The exception carries the object's LastErrorText at the time of the failure (lastErrorText), the class and method names (className, methodName) and a one-line message. Properties never throw, and methods that answer a question (has..., is..., ...) return a plain bool.

try {
  dateTime.someMethod(...);
} on ChilkatException catch (e) {
  print(e);                // CkDateTime.someMethod failed: <reason>
  print(e.lastErrorText);  // the full Chilkat log of the failed call
}

Properties

DebugLogFilePath
// read/write
String get debugLogFilePath
set debugLogFilePath(String value)

If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.

Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.

Possible causes of hangs include:

  • A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
  • A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
  • An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.

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IsDst
// read-only
int get isDst

This is the Daylight Saving Time flag. It can have one of three possible values: 1, 0, or -1. It has the value 1 if Daylight Saving Time is in effect, 0 if Daylight Saving Time is not in effect, and -1 if the information is not available.

Note: This is NOT the DST for the current system time. It is the DST that was in effect at the date value contained in this object.

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LastErrorHtml
// read-only
String get lastErrorHtml

Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorText
// read-only
String get lastErrorText

Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastErrorXml
// read-only
String get lastErrorXml

Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.

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LastMethodSuccess
// read/write
bool get lastMethodSuccess
set lastMethodSuccess(bool value)

Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: true means success, false means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.

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UtcOffset
// read-only
int get utcOffset

For the current system's timezone, returns the number of seconds offset from UTC for this date/time. The offset includes daylight savings adjustment. Local timezones west of UTC return a negative offset.

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VerboseLogging
// read/write
bool get verboseLogging
set verboseLogging(bool value)

If set to true, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is false. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
// read-only
String get version

Version of the component/library, such as "10.1.0"

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Methods

AddDays
void addDays(int numDays)

Adds an integer number of days to the date/time. To subtract days, pass a negative integer.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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AddSeconds
void addSeconds(int numSeconds)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.65

Adds an integer number of seconds to the date/time. To subtract seconds, pass a negative integer.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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DeSerialize
void deSerialize(String serializedDateTime)

Loads the date/time with a string having the format as produced by the Serialize method, which is a string of SPACE separated integers containing (in this order) year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds, and a UTC flag having the value of 1/0.

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DiffSeconds
int diffSeconds(CkDateTime dateTimeArg)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.65

Returns the difference in seconds between the dateTimeArg and this date/time. The value returned is this object's date/time - dateTimeArg's date/time. For example, if the returned value is positive, then this object's date/time is more recent than dateTimeArg's date/time. If the return value is negative, then this object's date/time is older than dateTimeArg's date/time.

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ExpiresWithin
bool expiresWithin(int n, String units)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Returns true if the date/time is within n seconds/minutes/hours/days of the current system date/time. Otherwise returns false. The units can be seconds, minutes, hours, or days (plural or singular).

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GetAsDateTimeTicks
int getAsDateTimeTicks(bool bLocal)

Returns the date/time as a 64-bit integer .NET DateTime value.

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

This is a date and time expressed in the number of 100-nanosecond intervals that have elapsed since January 1, 0001 at 00:00:00.000 in the Gregorian calendar.

The DateTime value type represents dates and times with values ranging from 12:00:00 midnight, January 1, 0001 Anno Domini (Common Era) through 11:59:59 P.M., December 31, 9999 A.D. (C.E.).

Time values are measured in 100-nanosecond units called ticks, and a particular date is the number of ticks since 12:00 midnight, January 1, 0001 A.D. (C.E.) in the GregorianCalendar calendar (excluding ticks that would be added by leap seconds). For example, a ticks value of 31241376000000000L represents the date, Friday, January 01, 0100 12:00:00 midnight. A DateTime value is always expressed in the context of an explicit or default calendar.

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GetAsDosDate
int getAsDosDate(bool bLocal)

Returns the date/time as a 32-bit DOS date/time bitmask.

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

The DOS date/time format is a bitmask:


			   24                16                 8                 0
	    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
	    |Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|M| |M|M|M|D|D|D|D|D| |h|h|h|h|h|m|m|m| |m|m|m|s|s|s|s|s|
	    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
	     \___________/\________/\_________/ \________/\____________/\_________/
		 year        month       day      hour       minute        second

The year is stored as an offset from 1980. Seconds are stored in two-second increments. (So if the second value is 15, it actually represents 30 seconds.)

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GetAsIso8601
String getAsIso8601(String formatStr, bool bLocal)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.65

Returns the date/time in a compatible ISO 8601 format according to the format specified in formatStr.. Examples of ISO 8601 formats include the following:

    YYYY-MM-DD

    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD

    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD

    YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss:sssTZD
For the date portion of these formats, YYYY is a four-digit year representation, MM is a two-digit month, and DD is a two-digit day. For the time portion, hh is the hour in 24-hour notation, mm is the two-digit minutes, ss is the two-digit seconds, and sss is the 3-digit milliseconds. A time designator T separates the date and time portions of the string, while a time zone designator TZD specifies a time zone (UTC).

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

Throws a ChilkatException on failure (where the description says null is returned, the Dart method throws instead).

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GetAsOleDate
double getAsOleDate(bool bLocal)

Returns the date/time in a Windows OLE DATE format.

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

The OLE automation date format is a floating point value, counting days since midnight 30 December 1899. Hours and minutes are represented as fractional days.

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GetAsRfc822
String getAsRfc822(bool bLocal)

Returns the date/time as an RFC822 formatted string. (An RFC822 format string is what is found in the Date header field of an email, such as Wed, 18 Oct 2017 09:08:21 GMT.)

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

Throws a ChilkatException on failure (where the description says null is returned, the Dart method throws instead).

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GetAsTimestamp
String getAsTimestamp(bool bLocal)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Returns the date/time as an RFC 3339 formatted string, such as 1990-12-31T23:59:60Z. (This is an ISO 8061 format like the following: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD)

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

Throws a ChilkatException on failure (where the description says null is returned, the Dart method throws instead).

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GetAsUnixTime
int getAsUnixTime(bool bLocal)

Returns the date/time as a Unix time value, which is the number of seconds elapsed since 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970.

bLocal indicates whether the date/time returned is local or UTC.

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GetAsUnixTime64
int getAsUnixTime64(bool bLocal)

The same as GetUnixTime, except returns the date/time as a 64-bit integer.

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

Note: 64-bit integers are needed after Jan 19, 2038. The Y2038 problem happens because some systems store Unix time as a signed 32-bit number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970. This number runs out on Jan 19, 2038, causing the time to wrap around to a date in 1901.

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GetAsUnixTimeDbl
double getAsUnixTimeDbl(bool bLocal)

The same as GetUnixTime, except returns the date/time as a double.

bLocal indicates whether a local or UTC time is returned.

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GetAsUnixTimeStr
String getAsUnixTimeStr(bool bLocal)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.65

Returns the time in Unix format (in seconds since the epoch: 00:00:00 UTC on 1 January 1970).

bLocal indicates whether the date/time returned is local or UTC.

Throws a ChilkatException on failure (where the description says null is returned, the Dart method throws instead).

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OlderThan
bool olderThan(int n, String units)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Returns true if the date/time is older than the current system date/time by n seconds/minutes/hours/days. Otherwise returns false. The units can be seconds, minutes, hours, or days (plural or singular).

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Serialize
String serialize()

Serializes the date/time to a us-ascii string that can be imported at a later time via the DeSerialize method. The format of the string returned by this method is not intended to match any published standard. It is formatted to a string with SPACE separated integers containing (in this order) year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds, and a UTC flag having the value of 1 or 0.

Throws a ChilkatException on failure (where the description says null is returned, the Dart method throws instead).

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SetFromCurrentSystemTime
void setFromCurrentSystemTime()

Sets the date/time from the current system time.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromDateTimeTicks
void setFromDateTimeTicks(bool bLocal, int ticks)

Sets the date/time from a .NET DateTime value represented in ticks. See GetAsDateTimeTicks for more information.

bLocal indicates whether the passed in date/time is local or UTC.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromDosDate
void setFromDosDate(bool bLocal, int t)

Sets the date/time from a 32-bit DOS date/time bitmask. See GetAsDosDate for more information.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromDtObj
void setFromDtObj(CkDtObj dt)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.47

Sets the date/time from a Chilkat Dt object.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromNtpServer
void setFromNtpServer(String jsonStr)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.96

Sets the date/time by sending a query to an NTP server.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromNtpTime
void setFromNtpTime(int ntpSeconds)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.50

Sets the date/time from a 32-bit NTP time value. ntpSeconds is the number of seconds since 00:00 (midnight) 1 January 1900 GMT.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromOleDate
void setFromOleDate(bool bLocal, double dt)

Sets the date/time from a Windows OLE DATE value.

bLocal indicates whether the passed in date/time is local or UTC.

Note: This method was not working correctly. The problem was discovered just after releasing v9.5.0.65. It will be fixed in the next version update.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromRfc822
void setFromRfc822(String rfc822Str)

Sets the date/time from an RFC822 date/time formatted string. Here are some examples of RFC822 formatted date/times:

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 22:00:58 +0000
Tue, 15 Nov 2022 20:21:50 +0100
Tue, 01 Nov 2022 18:09:41 -0600

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromTimestamp
void setFromTimestamp(String timestamp)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.58

Sets the date/time from an RFC 3339 timestamp format. (such as 1990-12-31T23:59:60Z:)

(This is an ISO 8061 format like the following: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD)

Note: Starting in v9.5.0.77, strings formatted as YYMMDDhhmmssZ, such as 181221132225Z, can also be passed to this method.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromUlid
void setFromUlid(bool bLocal, String ulid)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.94

Sets this object's date/time using the timestamp embedded in the ulid. If the ulid was not a valid ULID, returns false and the date/time is not set. bLocal indicates whether the ulid uses a local time or UTC time.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromUnixTime
void setFromUnixTime(bool bLocal, int t)

Sets the date/time from a UNIX time value.

bLocal indicates whether the passed in date/time is local or UTC.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromUnixTime64
void setFromUnixTime64(bool bLocal, int t)

The same as SetFromUnixTime, except that it uses a 64-bit integer to solve the Y2038 problem.

bLocal indicates whether the passed in date/time is local or UTC.

Note: 64-bit integers are needed after Jan 19, 2038. The Y2038 problem happens because some systems store Unix time as a signed 32-bit number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970. This number runs out on Jan 19, 2038, causing the time to wrap around to a date in 1901.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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SetFromUnixTimeDbl
void setFromUnixTimeDbl(bool bLocal, double d)

The same as SetFromUnixTime, except that it uses a double to solve the Y2038 problem. (See GetAsUnixTime for more information about Y2038).

bLocal indicates whether the passed in date/time is local or UTC.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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ToDtObj
void toDtObj(bool bLocal, CkDtObj dtObj)
Introduced in version 11.0.0

Copies the date/time to the dtObj. Gets the date/time in the local time if bLocal is true, or GMT if bLocal is false.

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UlidGenerate
String ulidGenerate(bool bLocal)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.94

Generates and returns a new ULID using this object's date/time value. bLocal indicates whether to use local time or UTC time.

Throws a ChilkatException on failure (where the description says null is returned, the Dart method throws instead).

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UlidIncrement
void ulidIncrement(CkStringBuilder ulid)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.94

Increments the ULID that is passed in ulid.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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UlidValidate
void ulidValidate(String ulid)
Introduced in version 9.5.0.94

Validates the ulid. Returns true if the ulid is valid, otherwise returns false.

Returns normally on success; throws a ChilkatException on failure.

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