Date format in Dart which includes GMT

Question

How do I convert my current time into GMT/ UTC time in Dart, similar to the javascript way: new Date().toUTCString():

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:06:35 GMT

I tried couple of formatters see below but it did not work

//var f = DateFormat('E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss z');
var f = DateFormat('E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss'); 
    var date = f.format(DateTime.now());

But what about a different user from another timezone, do you want it to also say GMT? — Ben Butterworth, Oct 15 '20 at 11:07

Ben Butterworth · Accepted Answer · 2020-10-25T18:44:59.743

3

Convert your current time to UTC and append `" GMT"` to the string.

import 'package:intl/intl.dart';

void main(List<String> arguments) async {
  var f = DateFormat('E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss');
  var date = f.format(DateTime.now().toUtc()) + " GMT";
  print(date);
}

Using an arbitrary timezone (not just GMT/ UTC)

Although it is in the documentation, you can't create strings with arbitrary timezones with DateTime, as timezone support/ implementation has been missing, and is a GitHub issue since 2015. For example, you can't display a different timezone in the string, as using z in the format string doesn't work: callers get an UnimplementedError. See the 3 related GitHub issues: one, two and three.

UnimplementedError
#0      _DateFormatPatternField.formatTimeZone (package:intl/src/intl/date_format_field.dart:640:5)
#1      _DateFormatPatternField.formatField (package:intl/src/intl/date_format_field.dart:381:16)
#2      _DateFormatPatternField.format (package:intl/src/intl/date_format_field.dart:244:12)
#3      DateFormat.format (package:intl/src/intl/date_format.dart:276:26)
#4      main (file:///Users/benbutterworth/datetime/bin/datetime.dart:11:16)
<asynchronous suspension>
#5      _startIsolate.<anonymous closure> (dart:isolate-patch/isolate_patch.dart:299:32)
#6      _RawReceivePortImpl._handleMessage (dart:isolate-patch/isolate_patch.dart:168:12)

edited Oct 25 '20 at 18:44

answered Oct 15 '20 at 11:10

Ben Butterworth

22,056
10
114
167

var f = DateFormat('E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss z') throws UnimplementedError. – Anuranjan Srivastav Oct 15 '20 at 11:18
That's because it's not yet implemented, see my edited answer – Ben Butterworth Oct 15 '20 at 11:32
1

I am converting javascript equivalent statement new Date().toUTCString() in to equivalent dart. I know there is utc method in dart but that does not produce this output. – Anuranjan Srivastav Oct 15 '20 at 11:34
Okay, so in this case, you can just append "GMT" after converting the current time to UTC/ GMT time. This is not a problem of "GMT", but a date conversion, which you can do [here](https://stackoverflow.com/a/26258061/7365866) and maybe [TimeZone package](https://pub.dev/packages/timezone) as well. – Ben Butterworth Oct 15 '20 at 11:47
I think next time, if you phrase your question with a little more information, I'd be able to help more quickly. I was interested in running dart without Flutter today though, so I am happy to help. – Ben Butterworth Oct 15 '20 at 11:48

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 15 '20 at 10:57

2

var f = DateFormat('EEE, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss'); 
var date = f.format(DateTime.now());

This output date in format Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:06:35, without GMT

answered Oct 15 '20 at 10:57

savke

268
1
3
11

That was my question..Its not printing GMT – Anuranjan Srivastav Oct 15 '20 at 11:00
Then add it lol, as a string? Or are you saying you want the specific time zone it is called in? – Ben Butterworth Oct 15 '20 at 11:01
@BenButterworth I want the current time to display as "Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:06:35 GMT" – Anuranjan Srivastav Oct 15 '20 at 11:05
@AnuranjanSrivastav GMT is set of timezones you want to print in which timezone was this time? – savke Oct 15 '20 at 11:24
@savke I am converting javascript equivalent statement new Date().toUTCString() in to equivalent dart. I know there is utc method in dart but that does not produce this output. – Anuranjan Srivastav Oct 15 '20 at 11:27
@AnuranjanSrivastav When you convert local date to UTC in flutter you don't get this string GMT, I think that is only difference. You just want GMT on the end if that is than just add it like string. – savke Oct 15 '20 at 11:43

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 15 '20 at 11:51

0

Finally I found out the work around as below

 String getUTCDate() {
    try {
      var f = DateFormat('E, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss');
      var now = DateTime.now().toUtc();
      return f.format(now) + ' GMT';
    } catch (e) {
      print('Error ******' + e.toString());
      throw e;
    }
  }

answered Oct 15 '20 at 11:51

Anuranjan Srivastav

363
3
14

Your solution generally works, but it outputs single-digit days when JavaScript's new Date().toUTCString() always outputs double-digit days. Also, you can integrate the "GMT" literal string into the date format. Here is the code I'm using: `var f = DateFormat("E, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'"); var now = DateTime.now().toUtc(); return f.format(now);` – Pi Da Oct 15 '20 at 20:01
Your original question said `I want to produce an output of date which includes the timezone of the caller`. Calling `.toUTC` includes the timezone of UTC/ GMT, not the timezone of the caller. – Ben Butterworth Oct 25 '20 at 18:38

Date format in Dart which includes GMT

3 Answers3

Convert your current time to UTC and append " GMT" to the string.

Using an arbitrary timezone (not just GMT/ UTC)

Convert your current time to UTC and append `" GMT"` to the string.