Editing Module:Date/doc (section)

== Formatted output ==

A date can be formatted as text.
<syntaxhighlight lang="lua">
local Date = require('Module:Date')._Date
local text = Date(2016, 7, 1):text()          -- result is '1 July 2016'
local text = Date(2016, 7, 1):text('%-d %B')  -- result is '1 July'
local text = Date('1 July 2016'):text('mdy')  -- result is 'July 1, 2016'
</syntaxhighlight>

The following simplified formatting codes are available.
{| class="wikitable"
! Code !! Result
|-
| hm  || hour:minute, with "am" or "pm" or variant, if specified (14:30 or 2:30&nbsp;pm or variant)
|-
| hms || hour:minute:second (14:30:45)
|-
| ymd || year-month-day (2016-07-01)
|-
| mdy || month day, year (July 1, 2016)
|-
| dmy || day month year (1 July 2016)
|}

The following formatting codes (similar to [[strftime]]) are available.
{| class="wikitable"
! Code !! Result
|-
| %a  || Day abbreviation: Mon, Tue, ...
|-
| %A  || Day name: Monday, Tuesday, ...
|-
| %u  || Day of week: 1 to 7 (Monday to Sunday)
|-
| %w  || Day of week: 0 to 6 (Sunday to Saturday)
|-
| %d  || Day of month zero-padded: 01 to 31
|-
| %b  || Month abbreviation: Jan to Dec
|-
| %B  || Month name: January to December
|-
| %m  || Month zero-padded: 01 to 12
|-
| %Y  || Year zero-padded: 0012, 0120, 1200
|-
| %H  || Hour 24-hour clock zero-padded: 00 to 23
|-
| %I  || Hour 12-hour clock zero-padded: 01 to 12
|-
| %p  || AM or PM or as in options
|-
| %M  || Minute zero-padded: 00 to 59
|-
| %S  || Second zero-padded: 00 to 59
|-
| %j  || Day of year zero-padded: 001 to 366
|-
| %-d || Day of month: 1 to 31
|-
| %-m || Month: 1 to 12
|-
| %-Y || Year: 12, 120, 1200
|-
| %-H || Hour: 0 to 23
|-
| %-M || Minute: 0 to 59
|-
| %-S || Second: 0 to 59
|-
| %-j || Day of year: 1 to 366
|-
| %-I || Hour: 1 to 12
|-
| %%  || %
|}

In addition, <code>%{''property''}</code> (where <code>''property''</code> is any property of a date) can be used.

For example, <code>Date('1 Feb 2015 14:30:45 A.D.')</code> has the following properties.

{| class="wikitable"
! Code !! Result
|-
| %{calendar}     || Gregorian
|-
| %{year}         || 2015
|-
| %{month}        || 2
|-
| %{day}          || 1
|-
| %{hour}         || 14
|-
| %{minute}       || 30
|-
| %{second}       || 45
|-
| %{dayabbr}      || Sun
|-
| %{dayname}      || Sunday
|-
| %{dayofweek}    || 0
|-
| %{dow}          || 0 (same as dayofweek)
|-
| %{dayofweekiso} || 7
|-
| %{dowiso}       || 7 (same as dayofweekiso)
|-
| %{dayofyear}    || 32
|-
| %{era}          || A.D.
|-
| %{gsd}          || 735630 (numbers of days from 1 January 1 CE; the first is day 1)
|-
| %{juliandate}   || 2457055.1046875 ([[Julian day]])
|-
| %{jd}           || 2457055.1046875 (same as juliandate)
|-
| %{isleapyear}   || false
|-
| %{monthdays}    || 28
|-
| %{monthabbr}    || Feb
|-
| %{monthname}    || February
|}

Some shortcuts are available. Given <code>date = Date('1 Feb 2015 14:30')</code>, the following results would occur.
{| class="wikitable"
! Code            !! Description   !! Example result               !! Equivalent format
|-
| date:text('%c') || date and time || 2:30&nbsp;pm 1 February 2015 || %-I:%M %p %-d %B %-Y %{era}
|-
| date:text('%x') || date          || 1 February 2015              || %-d %B %-Y %{era}
|-
| date:text('%X') || time          || 2:30&nbsp;pm                 || %-I:%M %p
|}