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Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date
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Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date


  • Subject: Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date
  • From: has <email@hidden>
  • Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2017 22:52:20 +0000

On 05/03/2017 20:55, Stockly, Ed wrote:

FWIW, I typed the conversion in off the top of my head from a dim memory based on a version I did years ago. I was worried that the production version in multiple scripts may ht have the same flaw so I looked at every script I've done and all accounted for the month issue (actually, issues) that Shane pointed out and also handled T or space space for the time delimiter. These scripts have been running flawlessly (some every day) for years and have never missed a date. (If they had I would have heard about it)


Not that Apple's code doesn't include its own embarrassing share of bugs, flaws, and limitations, but given the choice between relying on their ISO8601 parsing code and your (or my) ISO8601 parsing code, it's not even a contest. (The Date library I wrote just wraps the corresponding Cocoa APIs, which is why I somewhat trust it to do the right thing.) Seriously, why invent your own half-baked version of logic that already exists, has been implemented against the official spec not some amateur guess, has been massively battle-tested by millions over two decades, and is provided as standard and totally free? What are you and the rest of the responders trying to achieve, other than to show off to others what a clever clogs you are? (A dog-and-pony show that only impresses the noobs and rubes.)

BTW, it's NOW enough to test your code with valid inputs and claim it is correct—you must also guarantee it behaves safely and reliably when fed malformed/out-of-range data as well. Defensive Programming 101. Oh, and since AppleScript is an absolute horror for global TIDs and system localizations altering output when working with text, dates, numbers, and their conversions, you need to test those too. As I pointed out elsewhere, saying "it works for me" doesn't mean diddly unless you're saying "it ONLY works for me" as well.

What is awesome about AppleScript is its ability to deliver powerful and productive application automation and integration solutions with a few lines of glue code. Amateur scripters endlessly rolling their own crappy fragile algorithms to perform simple data processing tasks that Computer Scientists and OS vendors already addressed decades ago and thinking that's anything except an embarrassing failure of both the AppleScript platform and its community is not.

If end-user programmers really want to help themselves, first learn the difference between high-value productivity and low-value scut work. Dog knows there's millions of "professional" programmers pathological incapable of making that distinction, so just think of all the circles you could run around them once you can.

has
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  • Follow-Ups:
    • Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date
      • From: "Stockly, Ed" <email@hidden>
    • Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date
      • From: Shane Stanley <email@hidden>
References: 
 >Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date (From: has <email@hidden>)
 >Re: Conversion of ISO Date String to AppleScript Date (From: "Stockly, Ed" <email@hidden>)

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