DateTime.parse(string);
DateTime.parse(string,format);
DateTime.parse(string,[formats]);
DateTime.parse(string,[formats],parseExact);
DateTime.parse(string,[formats],parseExact,utcMode);
When creating a DateTime from a string, we first check if the string matches known [ISO 8601](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601) formats, we then check if the string matches the [RFC 2822 Date time](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822#section-3.3) format before dropping to the fall back of `new Date(string)` if a known format is not found.
var day = new DateTime("1995-12-25");
**Warning:** Browser support for parsing strings [is inconsistent](http://dygraphs.com/date-formats.html). Because there is no specification on which formats should be supported, what works in some browsers will not work in other browsers.
## Supported ISO 8601 strings
An ISO 8601 string requires a date part.
2013-02-08 # A calendar date part
2013-W06-5 # A week date part
2013-039 # An ordinal date part
20130208 # Basic (short) full date
2013W065 # Basic (short) week, weekday
2013W06 # Basic (short) week only
2013050 # Basic (short) ordinal date
A time part can also be included, separated from the date part by a space or a uppercase T.
2013-02-08T09 # An hour time part separated by a T
2013-02-08 09 # An hour time part separated by a space
2013-02-08 09:30 # An hour and minute time part
2013-02-08 09:30:26 # An hour, minute, and second time part
2013-02-08 09:30:26.123 # An hour, minute, second, and millisecond time part
2013-02-08 24:00:00.000 # hour 24, minute, second, millisecond equal 0 means next day at midnight
20130208T080910,123 # Short date and time up to ms, separated by comma
20130208T080910.123 # Short date and time up to ms
20130208T080910 # Short date and time up to seconds
20130208T0809 # Short date and time up to minutes
20130208T08 # Short date and time, hours only
Any of the date parts can have a time part.
2013-02-08 09 # A calendar date part and hour time part
2013-W06-5 09 # A week date part and hour time part
2013-039 09 # An ordinal date part and hour time part
If a time part is included, an offset from UTC can also be included as `+-HH:mm`, `+-HHmm`, `+-HH` or `Z`.
2013-02-08 09+07:00 # +-HH:mm
2013-02-08 09-0100 # +-HHmm
2013-02-08 09Z # Z
2013-02-08 09:30:26.123+07:00 # +-HH:mm
2013-02-08 09:30:26.123+07 # +-HH
If a string does not match any of the above formats and is not able to be parsed with `Date.parse`, the function returns `null`.
## The RFC 2822 date time format
Before parsing a RFC 2822 date time the string is cleansed to remove any comments and/or newline characters. The additional characters are legal in the format but add nothing to creating a valid DateTime instance.
After cleansing, the string is validated in the following space-separated sections, all using the English language:
6 Mar 17 21:22 UT
6 Mar 17 21:22:23 UT
6 Mar 2017 21:22:23 GMT
06 Mar 2017 21:22:23 Z
Mon 06 Mar 2017 21:22:23 z
Mon, 06 Mar 2017 21:22:23 +0000
1. Day of Week in three letters, followed by an optional comma. (optional)
2. Day of Month (1 or 2 digit), followed by a three-letter month and 2 or 4 digit year
3. Two-digit hours and minutes separated by a colon (:), followed optionally by another colon and seconds in 2-digits
4. Timezone or offset in one of the following formats:
1. UT : +0000
2. GMT : +0000
3. EST | CST | MST | PST | EDT | CDT | MDT | PDT : US time zones*
4. A - I | K - Z : Military time zones*
5. Time offset +/-9999
[*] See [section 4.3](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822#section-4.3) of the specification for details.
The parser also confirms that the day-of-week (when included) is consistent with the date.
DateTime.parseZone()
DateTime.parseZone(String)
DateTime.parseZone(String, String)
DateTime.parseZone(String, [String])
DateTime.parseZone(String, String, Boolean)
DateTime.parseZone(String, String, String, Boolean)
DateTime's string parsing functions like `new DateTime(string)` and `DateTime.utc(string)` accept offset information if provided, but convert the resulting DateTime object to local or UTC time. In contrast, `DateTime.parseZone()` parses the string but keeps the resulting DateTime object in a fixed-offset timezone with the provided offset in the string.
DateTime.parseZone("2013-01-01T00:00:00-13:00").utcOffset();
DateTime.parseZone('2013 01 01 05 -13:00', 'YYYY MM DD HH ZZ').utcOffset();
DateTime.parseZone('2013-01-01-13:00', ['DD MM YYYY ZZ', 'YYYY MM DD ZZ']).utcOffset();
It also allows you to pass locale and strictness arguments.
DateTime.parseZone("2013 01 01 -13:00", 'YYYY MM DD ZZ', true).utcOffset();
DateTime.parseZone("2013-01-01-13:00", 'YYYY MM DD ZZ', true).utcOffset();
DateTime.parseZone("2013 01 01 -13:00", 'YYYY MM DD ZZ', 'fr', true).utcOffset();
DateTime.parseZone("2013 01 01 -13:00", ['DD MM YYYY ZZ', 'YYYY MM DD ZZ'], 'fr', true).utcOffset();
`DateTime.parseZone` is equivalent to parsing the string and using `DateTime#utcOffset` to parse the zone.
var s = "2013-01-01T00:00:00-13:00";
new DateTime(s).utcOffset(s);
If the parsing fails, the function returns `null` and logs a message on the console to explain the reason for the failure