The Date Helper primarily creates select/option tags for different kinds of dates and date elements. All of the select-type methods share a number of common options that are as follows:

  • :prefix - overwrites the default prefix of "date" used for the select names. So specifying "birthday" would give birthday instead of date if passed to the #select_month method.

  • :include_blank - set to true if it should be possible to set an empty date.

  • :discard_type - set to true if you want to discard the type part of the select name. If set to true, the #select_month method would use simply "date" (which can be overwritten using :prefix) instead of "date".

Methods
D
S
T
Constants
DEFAULT_PREFIX = 'date' unless const_defined?('DEFAULT_PREFIX')
 
Instance Public methods
date_select(object_name, method, options = {})

Returns a set of select tags (one for year, month, and day) pre-selected for accessing a specified date-based attribute (identified by method) on an object assigned to the template (identified by object). It’s possible to tailor the selects through the options hash, which accepts all the keys that each of the individual select builders do (like :use_month_numbers for #select_month) as well as a range of discard options. The discard options are :discard_year, :discard_month and :discard_day. Set to true, they’ll drop the respective select. Discarding the month select will also automatically discard the day select. It’s also possible to explicitly set the order of the tags using the :order option with an array of symbols :year, :month and :day in the desired order. Symbols may be omitted and the respective select is not included.

Passing :disabled => true as part of the options will make elements inaccessible for change.

NOTE: Discarded selects will default to 1. So if no month select is available, January will be assumed.

Examples:

date_select("post", "written_on")
date_select("post", "written_on", :start_year => 1995)
date_select("post", "written_on", :start_year => 1995, :use_month_numbers => true,
                                  :discard_day => true, :include_blank => true)
date_select("post", "written_on", :order => [:day, :month, :year])
date_select("user", "birthday",   :order => [:month, :day])

The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 107
def date_select(object_name, method, options = {})
  InstanceTag.new(object_name, method, self, nil, options.delete(:object)).to_date_select_tag(options)
end
datetime_select(object_name, method, options = {})

Returns a set of select tags (one for year, month, day, hour, and minute) pre-selected for accessing a specified datetime-based attribute (identified by method) on an object assigned to the template (identified by object). Examples:

datetime_select("post", "written_on")
datetime_select("post", "written_on", :start_year => 1995)

The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 131
def datetime_select(object_name, method, options = {})
  InstanceTag.new(object_name, method, self, nil, options.delete(:object)).to_datetime_select_tag(options)
end
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, to_time = 0, include_seconds = false)

Reports the approximate distance in time between two Time or Date objects or integers as seconds. Set include_seconds to true if you want more detailed approximations when distance < 1 min, 29 secs Distances are reported base on the following table:

0 <-> 29 secs # => less than a minute 30 secs <-> 1 min, 29 secs # => 1 minute 1 min, 30 secs <-> 44 mins, 29 secs # => [2..44] minutes 44 mins, 30 secs <-> 89 mins, 29 secs # => about 1 hour 89 mins, 29 secs <-> 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => about [2..24] hours 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs <-> 47 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => 1 day 47 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs <-> 29 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => [2..29] days 29 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs # => about 1 month 59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 1 yr minus 31 secs # => [2..12] months 1 yr minus 30 secs <-> 2 yrs minus 31 secs # => about 1 year 2 yrs minus 30 secs <-> max time or date # => over [2..X] years

With include_seconds = true and the difference < 1 minute 29 seconds 0-4 secs # => less than 5 seconds 5-9 secs # => less than 10 seconds 10-19 secs # => less than 20 seconds 20-39 secs # => half a minute 40-59 secs # => less than a minute 60-89 secs # => 1 minute

Examples:

from_time = Time.now
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 50.minutes) # => about 1 hour
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 15.seconds) # => less than a minute
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 15.seconds, true) # => less than 20 seconds

Note: Rails calculates one year as 365.25 days.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 48
def distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, to_time = 0, include_seconds = false)
  from_time = from_time.to_time if from_time.respond_to?(:to_time)
  to_time = to_time.to_time if to_time.respond_to?(:to_time)
  distance_in_minutes = (((to_time - from_time).abs)/60).round
  distance_in_seconds = ((to_time - from_time).abs).round

  case distance_in_minutes
    when 0..1
      return (distance_in_minutes == 0) ? 'less than a minute' : '1 minute' unless include_seconds
      case distance_in_seconds
        when 0..4   then 'less than 5 seconds'
        when 5..9   then 'less than 10 seconds'
        when 10..19 then 'less than 20 seconds'
        when 20..39 then 'half a minute'
        when 40..59 then 'less than a minute'
        else             '1 minute'
      end

    when 2..44           then "#{distance_in_minutes} minutes"
    when 45..89          then 'about 1 hour'
    when 90..1439        then "about #{(distance_in_minutes.to_f / 60.0).round} hours"
    when 1440..2879      then '1 day'
    when 2880..43199     then "#{(distance_in_minutes / 1440).round} days"
    when 43200..86399    then 'about 1 month'
    when 86400..525959   then "#{(distance_in_minutes / 43200).round} months"
    when 525960..1051919 then 'about 1 year'
    else                      "over #{(distance_in_minutes / 525960).round} years"
  end
end
distance_of_time_in_words_to_now(from_time, include_seconds = false)
select_date(date = Date.today, options = {})

Returns a set of html select-tags (one for year, month, and day) pre-selected with the date. It’s possible to explicitly set the order of the tags using the :order option with an array of symbols :year, :month and :day in the desired order. If you do not supply a Symbol, it will be appened onto the :order passed in.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 149
def select_date(date = Date.today, options = {})
  options[:order] ||= []
  [:year, :month, :day].each { |o| options[:order].push(o) unless options[:order].include?(o) }

  select_date = ''
  options[:order].each do |o|
    select_date << self.send("select_#{o}", date, options)
  end
  select_date
end
select_datetime(datetime = Time.now, options = {})

Returns a set of html select-tags (one for year, month, day, hour, and minute) pre-selected with the datetime. It’s also possible to explicitly set the order of the tags using the :order option with an array of symbols :year, :month and :day in the desired order. If you do not supply a Symbol, it will be appened onto the :order passed in. You can also add :date_separator and :time_separator keys to the options to control visual display of the elements.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 140
def select_datetime(datetime = Time.now, options = {})
 separator = options[:datetime_separator] || ''
 select_date(datetime, options) + separator + select_time(datetime, options)
end
select_day(date, options = {})

Returns a select tag with options for each of the days 1 through 31 with the current day selected. The date can also be substituted for a hour number. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘day’ by default.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 228
def select_day(date, options = {})
  val = date ? (date.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? date : date.day) : ''
  if options[:use_hidden]
    hidden_html(options[:field_name] || 'day', val, options)
  else
    day_options = []
    1.upto(31) do |day|
      day_options << ((val == day) ?
        %Q(<option value="#{day}" selected="selected">#{day}</option>\n) :
        %Q(<option value="#{day}">#{day}</option>\n)
      )
    end
    select_html(options[:field_name] || 'day', day_options, options)
  end
end
select_hour(datetime, options = {})

Returns a select tag with options for each of the hours 0 through 23 with the current hour selected. The hour can also be substituted for a hour number. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘hour’ by default.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 209
def select_hour(datetime, options = {})
  val = datetime ? (datetime.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? datetime : datetime.hour) : ''
  if options[:use_hidden]
    hidden_html(options[:field_name] || 'hour', val, options)
  else
    hour_options = []
    0.upto(23) do |hour|
      hour_options << ((val == hour) ?
        %Q(<option value="#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(hour)}" selected="selected">#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(hour)}</option>\n) :
        %Q(<option value="#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(hour)}">#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(hour)}</option>\n)
      )
    end
    select_html(options[:field_name] || 'hour', hour_options, options)
  end
end
select_minute(datetime, options = {})

Returns a select tag with options for each of the minutes 0 through 59 with the current minute selected. Also can return a select tag with options by minute_step from 0 through 59 with the 00 minute selected The minute can also be substituted for a minute number. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘minute’ by default.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 190
def select_minute(datetime, options = {})
  val = datetime ? (datetime.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? datetime : datetime.min) : ''
  if options[:use_hidden]
    hidden_html(options[:field_name] || 'minute', val, options)
  else
    minute_options = []
    0.step(59, options[:minute_step] || 1) do |minute|
      minute_options << ((val == minute) ?
        %Q(<option value="#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(minute)}" selected="selected">#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(minute)}</option>\n) :
        %Q(<option value="#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(minute)}">#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(minute)}</option>\n)
      )
    end
    select_html(options[:field_name] || 'minute', minute_options, options)
   end
end
select_month(date, options = {})

Returns a select tag with options for each of the months January through December with the current month selected. The month names are presented as keys (what’s shown to the user) and the month numbers (1-12) are used as values (what’s submitted to the server). It’s also possible to use month numbers for the presentation instead of names – set the :use_month_numbers key in options to true for this to happen. If you want both numbers and names, set the :add_month_numbers key in options to true. If you would prefer to show month names as abbreviations, set the :use_short_month key in options to true. If you want to use your own month names, set the :use_month_names key in options to an array of 12 month names.

Examples:

select_month(Date.today)                             # Will use keys like "January", "March"
select_month(Date.today, :use_month_numbers => true) # Will use keys like "1", "3"
select_month(Date.today, :add_month_numbers => true) # Will use keys like "1 - January", "3 - March"
select_month(Date.today, :use_short_month => true)   # Will use keys like "Jan", "Mar"
select_month(Date.today, :use_month_names => %w(Januar Februar Marts ...))   # Will use keys like "Januar", "Marts"

Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘month’ by default.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 261
def select_month(date, options = {})
  val = date ? (date.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? date : date.month) : ''
  if options[:use_hidden]
    hidden_html(options[:field_name] || 'month', val, options)
  else
    month_options = []
    month_names = options[:use_month_names] || (options[:use_short_month] ? Date::ABBR_MONTHNAMES : Date::MONTHNAMES)
    month_names.unshift(nil) if month_names.size < 13
    1.upto(12) do |month_number|
      month_name = if options[:use_month_numbers]
        month_number
      elsif options[:add_month_numbers]
        month_number.to_s + ' - ' + month_names[month_number]
      else
        month_names[month_number]
      end

      month_options << ((val == month_number) ?
        %Q(<option value="#{month_number}" selected="selected">#{month_name}</option>\n) :
        %Q(<option value="#{month_number}">#{month_name}</option>\n)
      )
    end
    select_html(options[:field_name] || 'month', month_options, options)
  end
end
select_second(datetime, options = {})

Returns a select tag with options for each of the seconds 0 through 59 with the current second selected. The second can also be substituted for a second number. Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘second’ by default.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 170
def select_second(datetime, options = {})
  val = datetime ? (datetime.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? datetime : datetime.sec) : ''
  if options[:use_hidden]
    options[:include_seconds] ? hidden_html(options[:field_name] || 'second', val, options) : ''
  else
    second_options = []
    0.upto(59) do |second|
      second_options << ((val == second) ?
        %Q(<option value="#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(second)}" selected="selected">#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(second)}</option>\n) :
        %Q(<option value="#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(second)}">#{leading_zero_on_single_digits(second)}</option>\n)
      )
    end
    select_html(options[:field_name] || 'second', second_options, options)
  end
end
select_time(datetime = Time.now, options = {})

Returns a set of html select-tags (one for hour and minute) You can set :add_separator key to format the output.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 162
def select_time(datetime = Time.now, options = {})
  separator = options[:time_separator] || ''
  select_hour(datetime, options) + separator + select_minute(datetime, options) + (options[:include_seconds] ? separator + select_second(datetime, options) : '')
end
select_year(date, options = {})

Returns a select tag with options for each of the five years on each side of the current, which is selected. The five year radius can be changed using the :start_year and :end_year keys in the options. Both ascending and descending year lists are supported by making :start_year less than or greater than :end_year. The date can also be substituted for a year given as a number. Example:

select_year(Date.today, :start_year => 1992, :end_year => 2007)  # ascending year values
select_year(Date.today, :start_year => 2005, :end_year => 1900)  # descending year values
select_year(2006, :start_year => 2000, :end_year => 2010)

Override the field name using the :field_name option, ‘year’ by default.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 297
def select_year(date, options = {})
  val = date ? (date.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? date : date.year) : ''
  if options[:use_hidden]
    hidden_html(options[:field_name] || 'year', val, options)
  else
    year_options = []
    y = date ? (date.kind_of?(Fixnum) ? (y = (date == 0) ? Date.today.year : date) : date.year) : Date.today.year

    start_year, end_year = (options[:start_year] || y-5), (options[:end_year] || y+5)
    step_val = start_year < end_year ? 1 : -1
    start_year.step(end_year, step_val) do |year|
      year_options << ((val == year) ?
        %Q(<option value="#{year}" selected="selected">#{year}</option>\n) :
        %Q(<option value="#{year}">#{year}</option>\n)
      )
    end
    select_html(options[:field_name] || 'year', year_options, options)
  end
end
time_ago_in_words(from_time, include_seconds = false)

Like #distance_of_time_in_words, but where to_time is fixed to Time.now.

Also aliased as: distance_of_time_in_words_to_now

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 79
def time_ago_in_words(from_time, include_seconds = false)
  distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, Time.now, include_seconds)
end
time_select(object_name, method, options = {})

Returns a set of select tags (one for hour, minute and optionally second) pre-selected for accessing a specified time-based attribute (identified by method) on an object assigned to the template (identified by object). You can include the seconds with :include_seconds. Examples:

time_select("post", "sunrise")
time_select("post", "start_time", :include_seconds => true)

The selects are prepared for multi-parameter assignment to an Active Record object.

Source: show 

# File rails/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/date_helper.rb, line 120
def time_select(object_name, method, options = {})
  InstanceTag.new(object_name, method, self, nil, options.delete(:object)).to_time_select_tag(options)
end