NSDateFormatter how can I format this date? - iphone

Question

I am attempting to format an NSString which looks like:
#"2012-07-19T02:58:33Z"
to an NSDate with the following format:
#"MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm a"
The NSDateFormatter always returns nil and I think it is because it cannot convert the NSString in it's current format to the desired one. Here is my code:
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
[formatter setDateFormat:#"MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm a"];
NSLocale *enUSLocale = [[NSLocale alloc] initWithLocaleIdentifier:#"en_US"];
[formatter setLocale:enUSLocale];
NSDate *date = [formatter dateFromString:dateString];
Do I need to store the date in a differant format? Can I make this conversion possible with the current NSString?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Your dateFormatter doesn't match your dateString... Try this
NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
[formatter setDateFormat:#"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'"];
NSLocale *enUSLocale = [[NSLocale alloc] initWithLocaleIdentifier:#"en_US"];
[formatter setLocale:enUSLocale];
NSDate *date = [formatter dateFromString:dateString];
[formatter setDateFormat:#"MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm a"];
dateString=[formatter stringFromDate:date];
now dateString contains "July 19, 2012 02:58 AM"
Hope this helps

Answer 2

Try it.
NSString *myDateString=#"2012-07-19T02:58:33Z";//#"2009-07-06T17:42:12";
NSDateFormatter *dateFormatter = [[[NSDateFormatter alloc] init] autorelease];
[dateFormatter setDateFormat:#"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'"];
NSDate *myDate = [[NSDate alloc] init];
myDate = [dateFormatter dateFromString:myDateString];
NSLog(#"MyDate is: %#", myDate);

Answer 3

Your problem has already been answered.
Store your string in a NSDate with the format of the original string:
NSString *originalDateString = #"2012-07-19T02:58:33Z";
NSDateFormatter *originalFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
[formatter setDateFormat:#"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'"];
NSLocale *enUSLocale = [[NSLocale alloc] initWithLocaleIdentifier:#"en_US"];
[formatter setLocale:enUSLocale];
NSDate *originalDate = [formatter dateFromString:originalDateString];
NSDateFormatter *newFormatter = [formatter setDateFormat:#"MMMM dd, yyyy HH:mm a"];
NSString *newDateString = [formatter stringFromDate:originalDate];