Convert timestamp from Firebase to readable date

[stianand]

I would like to convert a timestamp posted in firebase to readable data. I am able to read the timestamp, but not able to convert it, or append it to an array.
This is my progress:

var orderDateHistoryArray = [String:Int]()`

    func getOrderDates() {
      
        let uid = Auth.auth().currentUser!.uid
        let orderDateHistoryRef = Database.database().reference().child("users/\(uid)/Orders/")
        
        orderDateHistoryRef.observeSingleEvent(of: .value, with: { (snapshot) in
       
            // Get user value
            let value = snapshot.value as? NSDictionary
            if  let orderDate = value?["Date"] as? [Int:String] {
               self.orderDateHistoryArray += Array(orderDate.values).map{ Date(timeIntervalSince1970: TimeInterval($0/1000))} // This fails. Error: "Binary operator '/' cannot be applied to operands of type 'String' and 'Int'"

                print(orderDate) 
            }
            self.tableView.reloadData()
            // ...
        }) { (error) in
            print(error.localizedDescription)
        }
    }

}

The print(orderDate) statement prints correctly:

[“-LQYspEghK3KE27MlFNE”: 1541421618601,
“-LQsYbhf-vl-NnRLTHhK”: 1541768379422,
“-LQYDWAKlzTrlTtO1Qiz”: 1541410526186,
“-LQsILjpNqKwLl9XBcQm”: 1541764115618]

This is childByAutoID : timeInMilliseconds

So, I want to read out the timeInMilliseconds , convert it to a readable timestamp and append it to the orderDateHistoryArray

[gdelarosa]

Hi @stianand, not sure if this could directly help but maybe give you an idea of how to get the timestamp for your orders. Here is an extension for Date,

extension Date {
    func timeAgoDisplay() -> String {
        let secondsAgo = Int(Date().timeIntervalSince(self))
        
        let minute = 60
        let hour = 60 * minute
        let day = 24 * hour
        let week = 7 * day
        
        let quotient: Int
        let unit: String
        
        if secondsAgo < minute {
            quotient = secondsAgo
            unit = "second"
        } else if secondsAgo < hour {
            quotient = secondsAgo / minute
            unit = "minute"
        } else if secondsAgo < day {
            quotient = secondsAgo / hour
            unit = "hour"
        } else if secondsAgo < week {
            quotient = secondsAgo / day
            unit = "day"
        } else {
            let df = DateFormatter()
            df.dateFormat = "MMMM d y"
            return df.string(from: self)
        }
        
        return "\(quotient) \(unit)\(quotient == 1 ? "" : "s") ago"
    }
}

Best,
Gina

[jayantvarma]

Hi @stianand,
For converting long dates into human readable format you can use the DateFormatter however using the ISO format is a much better option than custom formats.

Especially in cases where you might want to use JSONCoding

cheers,