Questions about the (current-time:) macro.

Comments

• greyelf

  April 2016

  The Javascript code for Harlowe's (current-time:) macro works similar to following:

  currenttime = function() {
  	const d = new Date(), am = d.getHours() < 12;		
  	return d.getHours() % 12 + ":" + d.getMinutes() + " " + (am ? "A" : "P") + "M";
  }
  

  ... it does not support zero padding the minutes value, not does it include displaying seconds.
  
  You can create your own currentTime function with the features you want.
  
  warning: The following uses a Javascript substr function with a negative start index which may not be supported by all web-browser so you may want to add the following Javascript Polyfill (from the above MDN link) to the start of your Story Javascript area. The Story Javascript area is access via the Edit Story Javascript menu item.

  // only run when the substr() function is broken
  if ('ab'.substr(-1) != 'b') {
  	/**
     *  Get the substring of a string
     *  @param  {integer}  start   where to start the substring
     *  @param  {integer}  length  how many characters to return
     *  @return {string}
     */
  	String.prototype.substr = function(substr) {
  		return function(start, length) {
  			// call the original method
  			return substr.call(this,
  				// did we get a negative start, calculate how much it is from the beginning of the string adjust the start parameter for negative value
  				start < 0 ? this.length + start : start,
  				length)
  		}
  	}(String.prototype.substr);
  }
  

  
  The following Javascript code creates a My.currentTime() function which returns the current time (hours:minutes:seconds), with both the minutes and seconds being zero padded as needed. The function is contained within a namespace named My so that the function does not interfere with Harlowe's or the web-browser's code, you can change the name of the namespace to whatever you prefer by just changing all occurrences of My.
  The code needs to be placed within the Story Javascript area (after the above Polyfill if you also added it)

  if (! window.My) {
  	window.My = {
  		currentTime: function() {
  			const d = new Date(), am = d.getHours() < 12;
  			const m = "0" + d.getMinutes(), s = "0" + d.getSeconds();
  			
  			return d.getHours() % 12 + ":" + m.substr(-2) + ":" + s.substr(-2) + " " + (am ? "A" : "P") + "M";
  		}
  	};
  }
  

  
  You use a (print:) macro like the following to display the current time in a passage:

  time: (print: My.currentTime())
  
• mooeena

  April 2016

  Thanks so much! That's exactly what I needed to know.
• mooeena

  April 2016

  I put this code into my story, but I'm getting an "Unexpected Identifier" error. What could be causing this?
• greyelf

  April 2016

  Did you cut-n-paste the code example that starts with "// only run when the substr() function is broken" and the code example that starts with "if (! window.My) {" into the Story Javascript area of your Story?
  
  The Story Javascript area is accessed via the Edit Story Javascript menu item.
• mooeena

  April 2016

  I did. It might be an issue with the My window, because even when I trim it down to

  if (! window.My) {
  	window.My = {
  		currentTime: function() {
  			return "test";
  		}
  	};
  }
  

  it returns the Unexpected Identifier error.
• greyelf

  April 2016

  The attached Archive HTML contains a demo of the above code, it has been tested on Windows 10 using Firefox, Chrome, IE and Edge. Download the archive HTML file and use Twine's Import From File option to add the demo to your Story List.
  
  I had to modify the currentTime function to the following:

  if (! window.My) {
  	window.My = {
  		currentTime: function() {
  			const d = new Date(), am = d.getHours() < 12;
  			const h = d.getHours() % 12, m = "0" + d.getMinutes(), s = "0" + d.getSeconds();
  			
  			return (h ? h : 12) + ":" + m.substr(-2) + ":" + s.substr(-2) + " " + (am ? "A" : "P") + "M";
  		}
  	};
  }
  

  ... because I incorrectly assumed that the original Harlowe 12-hour am/pm related code was valid but it displays One minute past midday/midnight as 0:01 when it should be 12:01.