Vidibus::Timecode

Timecodes are a simple, yet powerful way to notate times.

This gem is part of Vidibus, an open source toolset for building distributed (video) applications.

Add gem "vidibus-timecode" to your Gemfile. Then call bundle install on your console.

A timecode instance requires at least one parameter. Valid inputs are time objects and timecode strings:

Vidibus::Timecode.new(Time.now)
Vidibus::Timecode.new("2011/12/07@21:00")

A timecode instance provides two methods, timecode and time:

Vidibus::Timecode.new(Time.now).timecode
# => "2011/12/07@21:00"

Vidibus::Timecode.new("2011/12/07@21:00").time
# => Wed Dec 07 21:00:00 +0100 2011

Timecodes may be used to describe single, definite times or multiple, even random times. Each timecode is comprised of a date and a time part, joined by "@": #{date}@#{time}

As shown above, a timecode object may represent a single time:

"2011/12/07@21:00" # Wed Dec 07 21:00:00 +0100 2011

But timecodes may also be used to define repeating times, like cron. Timcode will return the next future time:

"7@21:00" # next 7th of a month, e.g. Thu Jul 07 21:00:00 +0200 2011

Some syntax examples:

# each 7th of every month at 21:00
"7@21"

# each 7th of every month at 21:00
"7@21:00"

# each 7th of december every year at 21:00
"12/7@21:00"

# on 7th of december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/12/07@21:00"

In the future Vidibus::Timecode will be able to handle collections, ranges and random times:

# on 7th and 23rd of december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/12/07+23@21:00"

# from 7th to 23rd of december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/12/07-23@21:00"

# on 7th or 23rd of december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/12/07,23@21:00"

# on one day between 7th and 23rd of december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/12/07~23@21:00"

# from 7th to 23rd of november and from 7th to 23rd of december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/11+12/07-23@21:00"

# between 7th and 23rd of november or december 2011 at 21:00
"2011/11,12/07-23@21:00"

• Allow range input
• Allow list input
• Allow precision option: :miliseconds
• Make precision :seconds default
• Add method explain to print timecode in words
• Allow timecodes without date or time: "@21" # everyday at 21:00

© 2011-2013 Andre Pankratz. See LICENSE for details.