Swift - How can I get the current time in seconds? - ios

Question

A user posts a comment in a different timezone and another user views the comment in different timezone. The time should be the same when converted back to the users timezone on their device.
Here's what I am trying but getting an "fatal error: unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value". The error is happening in my distance time variable when its trying to subtract "time". I printed time before it executed and its saying "nil". Any help please?
import UIKit
class EventCommentCell: UITableViewCell {
var obj : EventCommentObj!
#IBOutlet var profileImage: UIImageView!
#IBOutlet var commentMessage: UITextView!
#IBOutlet var time: UILabel!
override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
// Initialization code
}
override func setSelected(selected: Bool, animated: Bool) {
super.setSelected(selected, animated: animated)
// Configure the view for the selected state
}
func setData(){
profileImage.layer.borderWidth = 1
profileImage.layer.masksToBounds = false
profileImage.layer.borderColor = UIColor(red: 0.125, green: 0.757, blue: 0.569, alpha: 1.0).CGColor
profileImage.layer.cornerRadius = profileImage.frame.height/2
profileImage.clipsToBounds = true
print("The Image URL : \(obj.profileImage)")
ImageLoader.sharedLoader.imageForUrl(obj.profileImage, completionHandler:{(image: UIImage?, url: String) in
self.profileImage.image = image
})
let message = "\(obj.username) \n\(obj.comment)"
let attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: message as String)
let range: NSRange = (message as NSString).rangeOfString(obj.username as String)
let range1: NSRange = (message as NSString).rangeOfString(obj.comment as String)
let font = UIFont.boldSystemFontOfSize(commentMessage.font!.pointSize)
attributedString.addAttribute(NSFontAttributeName, value: font, range: range)
attributedString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor(red: 0.125, green: 0.757, blue: 0.569, alpha: 1.0), range: range)
commentMessage.attributedText = attributedString
time.text = getCreationTimeInt(obj.created_on)
}
func getCreationTimeInt(dateString : String) -> String{
let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.locale = NSLocale.currentLocale()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
dateFormatter.timeZone = NSTimeZone(forSecondsFromGMT: 0)
dateFormatter.timeZone = NSTimeZone.systemTimeZone()
let time = dateFormatter.dateFromString(dateString)?.timeIntervalSince1970
let distanceTime = NSDate().timeIntervalSince1970 - time!
let stringTime = returnDistanceTime(distanceTime)
print("**** The time \(stringTime)", terminator: "")
return stringTime
}
func returnDistanceTime(distanceTime : Double) -> String{
var stringTime = ""
if (distanceTime < 0) {
stringTime = "0s"
}else{
if(distanceTime < 60){
stringTime = "\(Int(distanceTime))s"
}else{
if(distanceTime < 3600){
stringTime = "\(Int(distanceTime/60))m"
}else{
if(distanceTime < 3600*24){
stringTime = "\(Int(distanceTime/3600))h"
}else{
if(distanceTime < 3600*24*7) {
stringTime = "\(Int(distanceTime/3600/24))d"
}else{
stringTime = "\(Int(distanceTime/3600/24/7))w"
}
}
}
}
}
return stringTime
}
}

Answer 1

Welcome to stack overflow. I plugged what you had into a Playground and it worked perfectly. Here is what I have:
//: Playground - noun: a place where people can play
import Cocoa
func returnDistanceTime(distanceTime: NSTimeInterval) -> String{
let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
return dateFormatter.stringFromDate(NSDate())
}
func getCreationTimeInt(dateString : String) -> String{
let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.locale = NSLocale.currentLocale()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
dateFormatter.timeZone = NSTimeZone(forSecondsFromGMT: 0)
dateFormatter.timeZone = NSTimeZone.systemTimeZone()
dateFormatter.locale = NSLocale(localeIdentifier: "en_US_POSIX")
let time = dateFormatter.dateFromString(dateString)?.timeIntervalSince1970
let distanceTime = NSDate().timeIntervalSince1970 - time!
let stringTime = returnDistanceTime(distanceTime)
print("**** The time \(stringTime)", terminator: "")
return stringTime
}
getCreationTimeInt("2016-03-01 12:12:12")

Answer 2

This is an answer from above from Aaron but in Swift 5
func returnDistanceTime(distanceTime: TimeInterval) -> String{
let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
return dateFormatter.string(from: NSDate() as Date)
}
func getCreationTimeInt(dateString : String) -> String{
let dateFormatter = DateFormatter()
dateFormatter.locale = NSLocale.current
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
dateFormatter.timeZone = NSTimeZone(forSecondsFromGMT: 0) as TimeZone
dateFormatter.timeZone = NSTimeZone.system
dateFormatter.locale = NSLocale(localeIdentifier: "en_US_POSIX") as Locale
let time = dateFormatter.date(from: dateString)?.timeIntervalSince1970
let distanceTime = NSDate().timeIntervalSince1970 - time!
let stringTime = returnDistanceTime(distanceTime: distanceTime)
print("**** The time \(stringTime)", terminator: "")
return stringTime
}