The EDTF-humanize gem adds a humanize method to EDTF::Decade, EDTF::Century, EDTF::Interval, EDTF::Set, EDTF::Season, EDTF::Unknown, and Date (ISO 8601 compliant) objects. It uses the edtf-ruby gem for parsing EDTF date strings into Date and EDTF objects.
See the edtf-ruby project's documentation for details about supported EDTF string formats and other implementation details.
This gem is used in production by Duke University Library's digital repository to transform date metadata stored as Extended Date Time Format (EDTF) strings into human readable strings for display.
In a Rails application using Bundler
Add the following to your Gemfile:
gem 'edtf-humanize'
Then run:
> bundle install
To use in other contexts install the gem and require it:
> gem install edtf-humanize
require 'edtf-humanize'
> d = Date.edtf('1975-07-01')
=> Tue, 01 Jul 1975
> d.humanize
=> "July 1, 1975"
> d = Date.edtf('1981~')
=> Thu, 01 Jan 1981
> d.humanize
=> "circa 1981"
> d = Date.edtf('198u')
=> Tue, 01 Jan 1980
> d.humanize
=> "198x"
> d = Date.edtf('1975-22')
=> #<EDTF::Season:0x0000000b6dd980 @year=1975, @season=:summer, @qualifier=nil>
> d.humanize
=> "summer 1975"
> d = Date.edtf('197x')
=> #<EDTF::Decade:0x0000000b6fe798 @year=1970>
> d.humanize
=> "1970s"
> d = Date.edtf('19xx')
=> #<EDTF::Century:0x0000000b6fe798 @year=1900>
> d.humanize
=> "1900s"
> d = Date.edtf('1981/1985')
=> #<EDTF::Interval:0x0000000ceeab18 @from=Thu, 01 Jan 1981, @to=Tue, 01 Jan 1985>
> d.humanize
=> "1981 to 1985"
> d = Date.edtf('[1888, 1889, 1891]')
=> #<EDTF::Set:0x0000000cef5450 @dates=#<Set: {Sun, 01 Jan 1888, Tue, 01 Jan 1889, Thu, 01 Jan 1891}>, @choice=true, @later=false, @earlier=false>
> d.humanize
=> "1888, 1889 or 1891"
> d = Date.edtf('uuuu')
=> #<EDTF::Unknown:0x0000000c04c688 @d=1>
> d.humanize
=> "unknown"
EDTF-humanize supports the use of I18n as well as language specific module overrides for more nuanced control. English, French, German, and Italian are supported.
Examples with current locale :fr:
> Date.edtf('1975-24').humanize
=> "hiver 1975"
> Date.edtf('20xx').humanize
=> "XXIe siècle"
Pull requests to add support for additional languages are welcome. You must add a new language module for the language and include the Default language module. A locales file with translations is also needed. The supporting files for French may be used as a reference for adding support for additional languages.:
edtf-humanize/lib/edtf/humanize.rb
edtf-humanize/config/locales/fr.edtf.yml
edtf-humanize/lib/edtf/humanize/language/french.rb
edtf-humanize/spec/edtf/humanize_fr_spec.rb
Contributions, especially to add support for additional languages are welcome. Tests are expected and written using RSpec. Code style is enforced with Rubocop.