OBJECTIVE

• Use the methods and properties of the Date object.  

DISCUSSION

Date Object 

• Includes properties and methods for manipulating dates and time 
• Declare and initialize as follows:

var dDate = new Date()

alert(dDate)

var dD1 = new Date("October 31, 2003 12:34:00")  //can use this format without specifying time

alert(dD1)

var dD2 = new Date(1994, 0, 22)

alert(dD2)

var dD3 = new Date(2002, 11, 7, 9, 35, 23)

alert(dD3)

var dD4 = new Date(154456) //This is date that is 154456 milliseconds since January 1, 1970

• Many methods for getting and setting date information  

var dD = new Date()

alert(dD)

dD.setYear(2010)  //sets year to 2010

alert(dD)

alert(dD.getDate())  //gets day

alert(dD.getTime())  //# milliseconds since 1970

• Visit a reference for complete list of methods

EXERCISES

1.  List the methods associated with the Date object.

2.  Create a page and display the time in the status bar.  Display only the hour and minutes. Do not hard-code the time. 

3.  Write a function that accepts a date object and returns which day of the week it is.  For example, if the date is a 12/4/2003, the function should return Thursday.  Hint, use getDay().

4.  Create a function that accepts 2 dates and returns the number of days between them. Test your function.

5.  Create a function that automatically generates a calender displaying the days in the current month.

LINKS AND HELP