Copyright © 2005-2006 Jas Latrix <jastejada@yahoo.com>
Copyright © 2013-2021 Thijs Schreijer
Table of Contents
To Load the module call local date = require"date" in
      your script. Make sure Lua can find the source file date.lua. No global table date
      will be created. Use the metamethod __call to construct
      a dateObject see example below:
local date = require "date"
-- prints all FRIDAY the 13TH dates between year 2000 and 2010
for i = 2000, 2010 do
        -- year jan 1
        x = date(i, 1, 1)
        -- from january to december
        for j = 1, 12 do
                -- set date to 13, check if friday
                if x:setmonth(j, 13):getweekday() == 6 then
                        print(x:fmt("%A, %B %d %Y"))
                end
        end
end
--- OUTPUT ---
--> Friday, October 13 2000
--> Friday, April 13 2001
--> Friday, July 13 2001
--> Friday, September 13 2002
--> Friday, December 13 2002
--> Friday, June 13 2003
--> Friday, February 13 2004
--> Friday, August 13 2004
--> Friday, May 13 2005
--> Friday, January 13 2006
--> Friday, October 13 2006
--> Friday, April 13 2007
--> Friday, July 13 2007
--> Friday, June 13 2008
--> Friday, February 13 2009
--> Friday, March 13 2009
--> Friday, November 13 2009
--> Friday, August 13 2010
    24*60*60
          seconds.Mon
          Jan 01 1000000 BCE 00:00:00 and less than Mon Jan
          01 1000001 00:00:00.Local = UTC + bias
os.date and os.time. It assumes that the Lua function os.time returns the number of seconds
      since the start time (called "epoch"). If the time value is outside
      the allowable range of times, usually Jan 01 1970
      00:00:00 to Jan 19 2038 03:14:07 the bias will
      be retrieve using the equivalent year inside the allowable range. Two years are
      considered to equivalent if they have the same leap year ness and starting weekday.
      The function that needs local time support are date(true) (get the current UTC time), date(false) (get the current local time), date(num_time), dateObj:getbias(), dateObject:fmt(str) (when str has a '%Z' or '%z'),
num_time
      or tbl_date or str_date or
      bool_now argument describe in the date library __call method.
    string, it must be the name of the month
      full or abbreviated. If the value is a number, that
      number must be 1-12 (January-December). see table below
      Table 1.
| Index | Abbreviation | Full Name | 
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan | January | 
| 2 | Feb | February | 
| 3 | Mar | March | 
| 4 | Apr | April | 
| 5 | May | May | 
| 6 | Jun | June | 
| 7 | Jul | July | 
| 8 | Aug | August | 
| 9 | Sep | September | 
| 10 | Oct | October | 
| 11 | Nov | November | 
| 12 | Dec | December | 
If the value does not represent month, that is equivalent to passing a nil value.
date.diff(var_date1,var_date2)
| Success | The resulting dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
-- get the days between two dates
d = date.diff("Jan 7 1563", date(1563, 1, 2))
assert(d:spandays()==5)
              
date.epoch()
              | Success | The resulting dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
assert(date.epoch()==date("jan 1 1970"))
              
local centuryflip = date.getcenturyflip()
              local centuryflip = date.getcenturyflip()
date.isleapyear(var_year)
              true if var_year leap year. false
              if var_year not leap year.d = date(1776, 1, 1) assert(date.isleapyear(d)) assert(date.isleapyear(d:getyear())) assert(date.isleapyear(1776))
date.setcenturyflip(century_flip)
              
date.setcenturyflip(0)
assert(date("01-01-00")==date(1900,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-50")==date(1950,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-99")==date(1999,01,01))
date.setcenturyflip(100)
assert(date("01-01-00")==date(2000,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-50")==date(2050,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-99")==date(2099,01,01))
date.setcenturyflip(50)
assert(date("01-01-00")==date(2000,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-49")==date(2049,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-50")==date(1950,01,01))
assert(date("01-01-99")==date(1999,01,01))
              int_year, var_month,
              int_day, num_hour, num_min, num_sec, int_ticksnum_time or
              tbl_date or str_date or bool_nowdate(false)date:__call(...) is the same as date(...).
          
date(num_time)
                
date(tbl_date)
                
date(str_date)
                
date(bool_now)
                date(int_year,var_month,int_day, [num_hour], [num_min], [num_sec], [int_ticks])
number value. Represents
                    the number of seconds in Universal Coordinated Time between the
                    specified value and the System epoch.table value. The
                      constructor will look for the value of this key:
                      year - an integer,
                          the full year, for example, 1969. Required if month and day is
                          givenmonth - a parsable month value. Required if
                          year and day is givenday - an integer,
                          the day of month from 1 to 31. Required if year and month is
                          givenhour - a number,
                          hours value, from 0 to 23, indicating the number of hours since
                          midnight. (default = 0)min - a number,
                          minutes value, from 0 to 59. (default = 0)sec - a number,
                          seconds value, from 0 to 59. (default = 0)(hour or min or sec or
                      msec) must be supplied if date (year and month and day) is not
                      given, vice versa.
                    string value. It must have
                      number/words representing date and/or time. Use commas and spaces
                      as delimiters. Strings enclosed by parenthesis is treated as a
                      comment and is ignored, these parentheses may be nested. The stated
                      day of the week is ignored whether its correct or not. A string
                      containing an invalid date is an error. For example, a string
                      containing two years or two months is an error. Time must be
                      supplied if date is not given, vice versa.
                      Time Format. Hours, minutes, and seconds are separated by colons, although all need not be specified. "10:", "10:11", and "10:11:12" are all valid. If the 24-hour clock is used, it is an error to specify "PM" for times later than 12 noon. For example, "23:15 PM" is an error.
Time Zone Format. First character is a sign "+" (east of UTC) or "-" (west of UTC). Hours and minutes offset are separated by colons:
assert( date("Jul 27 2006 03:56:28 +2:00") == date(2006,07,27,1,56,28))
                      Another format is [sign][number]
                      If [number] is less than 24, it is
                      the offset in hours e.g. "-10" = -10 hours. Otherwise it is the
                      offset in houndred hours e.g. "+75" = "+115" = +1.25 hours.
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 -75 ") == date(2006,07,27,1,15,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 -115") == date(2006,07,27,1,15,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 +10 ") == date(2006,07,26,14,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 +2  ") == date(2006,07,26,22,0,0))
                      Standard timezone GMT, UTC, EST, EDT, CST, CDT, MST, MDT, PST, PDT are supported.
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 GMT") == date(2006,07,27,0,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 UTC") == date(2006,07,27,0,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 EST") == date(2006,07,27,5,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 EDT") == date(2006,07,27,4,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 CST") == date(2006,07,27,6,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 CDT") == date(2006,07,27,5,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 MST") == date(2006,07,27,7,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 MDT") == date(2006,07,27,6,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 PST") == date(2006,07,27,8,0,0))
assert(date("Jul 27 2006 PDT") == date(2006,07,27,7,0,0))
                      Date Format. Short dates can use either a "/" or "-" date separator, but must follow the month/day/year format. 2 digit years are interpreted according to the global centuryflip setting.
assert(date("02-03-04")==date(1904,02,03))
assert(date("12/25/98")==date(1998,12,25))
                      Long dates of the form "July 10 1995" can be given with the year, month, and day in any order, and the year in 2-digit or 4-digit form. If you use the 2-digit form, the year must be greater than or equal to 70.
assert(date("Feb-03-04")==date(1904,02,03))
assert(date("December 25 1998")==date(1998,12,25))
                      Follow the year with BC or BCE to indicate that the year is before common era.
assert(date("Feb 3 0003 BC")==date(-2,02,03))
assert(date("December 25 0001 BC")==date(0,12,25))
                      Supported ISO 8601 Formats.
YYYY-MM-DD
assert(date("2000-12-31")==date(2000,12,31))
assert(date(" 20001231 ")==date(2000,12,31)) -- Compact version
                          YYYY-DDD
assert(date("1995-035")==date(1995,02,04))
assert(date("1995035 ")==date(1995,02,04)) -- Compact version
                          YYYY-WDD-D
assert(date("1997-W01-1")==date(1996,12,30))
assert(date("  1997W017")==date(1997,01,05)) -- Compact version
                          DATE HH:MM:SS.SSS
assert(date("1995-02-04 24:00:51.536")==date(1995,2,5,0,0,51.536))
assert(date("1976-W01-1 12:12:12.123")==date(1975,12,29,12,12,12.123))
assert(date("1995-035 23:59:59.99999")==date(1995,02,04,23,59,59.99999))
-- Compact version separated by latin capital letter T
assert(date("  19950205T000051.536  ")==date(1995,2,5,0,0,51.536))
assert(date("  1976W011T121212.123  ")==date(1975,12,29,12,12,12.123))
assert(date(" 1995035T235959.99999  ")==date(1995,02,04,23,59,59.99999))
                          DATE TIME +HH:MM, DATE
                          TIME -HHMM,
                          DATE TIME Z,
assert(date("1976-W01-1 12:00Z     ")==date(1975,12,29,12))
assert(date("1976-W01-1 13:00+01:00")==date(1975,12,29,12))
assert(date("1976-W01-1 0700-0500  ")==date(1975,12,29,12))
                          boolean value. if
                    bool_now is false it returns the current local date and time.
                    if bool_now is true it returns the current UTC date and
                    time.interger value. The year
                    value.interger value. The day
                    of month.number value. Equal to
                    the hours value. The default value is 0number value. Equal to
                    the minutes value. The default value is 0number value. Equal to
                    the seconds value. The default value is 0interger value. Equal to
                    the ticks value. The default value is 0| Success | the new dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2006, 8, 13)   assert(a == date("Sun Aug 13 2006"))
b = date("Jun 13 1999") assert(b == date(1999, 6, 13))
c = date(1234483200)    assert(c == date("Feb 13 2009"))
d = date({year=2009, month=11, day=13, min=6})
        assert(d == date("Nov 13 2009 00:06:00"))
e = date() assert(e)
              dateObject as Ticks or Day
        Fraction. Date is stored in dateObject as Day
        Number. Ticks is time unit per seconds. For example, if the tick unit is 1000000.
        0.25 seconds is equivalent to 250000 ticks (0.25*1000000). Day number, is the
        number days since the epoch, which is January 1, 0001 AD. Example.
        
dobj = date("15:49:59.3669")
If the tick unit is 1000000, dobj store this time as
56999366900 ticks and 0 days.
        ((((15*60)+49)*60)+59.3669)*1000000 == 56999366900Example Date and Time:
dobj = date("Jan-5-0001 10:30:15")
If the tick unit is 1000000, dobj store this date and
time as 37815000000 ticks and 4 days. 4 days becuase:
        | Day# | Date | 
|---|---|
| 0 | Jan 1 0001 | 
| 1 | Jan 2 0001 | 
| 2 | Jan 3 0001 | 
| 3 | Jan 4 0001 | 
| 4 | Jan 5 0001 | 
| 5 | Jan 6 0001 | 
| ... | ... | 
The default tick unit is 1000000 (micro-second-ticks)
a < b
            operation.true if date value of a is smaller/older
            than date value of b. a > b is equivalent to
            b < a.a <= b
            operation.true if date value of a is smaller/older
            than or equal to the date value of b. a >= b
            is equivalent to b <= a.a == b
            operation.true if date value of a is equal
            equal to the date value of b. a ~= b is
            equivalent to not (a == b).a .. b
            operation.tostring(a) ..
            tostring(b).a - b
            operation.b from
            date and time value of a.a + b
            operation.b to date and
            time value of a.a and b must be a
        parsable date value or an error rises
        
a = date(1521,5,2)
b = a:copy():addseconds(0.001)
assert((a - b):spanseconds() == -0.001)
assert((a + b) == (b + a))
assert(a == (b - date("00:00:00.001")) )
assert(b == (a + date("00:00:00.001")) )
b:addseconds(-0.01)
assert(a >  b and b <  a)
assert(a >= b and b <= a)
assert(a ~= b and (not(a == b)))
a = b:copy()
assert(not (a >  b and b <  a))
assert(a >= b and b <= a)
assert(a == b and (not(a ~= b)))
assert((a .. 565369) == (b .. 565369))
assert((a .. "????") == (b .. "????"))
      
dateObject:adddays(int_days)
              integer value. Days to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2000,12,30) b = date(a):adddays(3) c = date.diff(b,a) assert(c:spandays() == 3)
dateObject:addhours(num_hours)
              number value. Hours to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2000,12,30) b = date(a):addhours(3) c = date.diff(b,a) assert(c:spanhours() == 3)
dateObject:addminutes(num_minutes)
              number value. Minutes to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2000,12,30) b = date(a):addminutes(3) c = date.diff(b,a) assert(c:spanminutes() == 3)
dateObject:addmonths(int_months)
              integer value. Months to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2000,12,28):addmonths(3) assert(a:getmonth() == 3)
dateObject:addseconds(num_sec)
              number value. Seconds to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2000,12,30) b = date(a):addseconds(3) c = date.diff(b,a) assert(c:spanseconds() == 3)
dateObject:addticks(num_ticks)
              number value. Ticks to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
dateObject”.a = date(2000,12,30) b = date(a):addticks(3) c = date.diff(b,a) assert(c:spanticks() == 3)
dateObject:addyears(int_years)
              integer value. Years to
                    add.| Success | reference to the adjusted dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
a = date(2000,12,30):addyears(3) assert(a:getyear() == (2000+3))
dateObject:copy()
              a = date(2000,12,30) b = a:copy() assert(a==b)
dateObject:fmt(str_code)
              string value. The format string
                      follows the same rules as the strftime standard C function.
                      Table 3. Format Spec
| Spec | Description | 
|---|---|
| '%a' | Abbreviated weekday name (Sun) | 
| '%A' | Full weekday name (Sunday) | 
| '%b' | Abbreviated month name (Dec) | 
| '%B' | Full month name (December) | 
| '%C' | Year/100 (19, 20, 30) | 
| '%d' | The day of the month as a number (range 1 - 31) | 
| '%g' | year for ISO 8601 week, from 00 (79) | 
| '%G' | year for ISO 8601 week, from 0000 (1979) | 
| '%h' | same as %b | 
| '%H' | hour of the 24-hour day, from 00 (06) | 
| '%I' | The hour as a number using a 12-hour clock (01 - 12) | 
| '%j' | The day of the year as a number (001 - 366) | 
| '%m' | Month of the year, from 01 to 12 | 
| '%M' | Minutes after the hour 55 | 
| '%p' | AM/PM indicator (AM) | 
| '%S' | The second as a number (59, 20 , 01) | 
| '%u' | ISO 8601 day of the week, to 7 for Sunday (7, 1) | 
| '%U' | Sunday week of the year, from 00 (48) | 
| '%V' | ISO 8601 week of the year, from 01 (48) | 
| '%w' | The day of the week as a decimal, Sunday being 0 | 
| '%W' | Monday week of the year, from 00 (48) | 
| '%y' | The year as a number without a century (range 00 to 99) | 
| '%Y' | Year with century (2000, 1914, 0325, 0001) | 
| '%z' | Time zone offset, the date object is assumed local time (+1000, -0230) | 
| '%Z' | Time zone name, the date object is assumed local time | 
| '%\b' | Year, if year is in BCE, prints the BCE Year representation, otherwise result is similar to "%Y" (1 BCE, 40 BCE) # | 
| '%\f' | Seconds including fraction (59.998, 01.123) # | 
| '%%' | percent character % | 
| '%r' | 12-hour time, from 01:00:00 AM (06:55:15 AM); same as "%I:%M:%S %p" | 
| '%R' | hour:minute, from 01:00 (06:55); same as "%I:%M" | 
| '%T' | 24-hour time, from 00:00:00 (06:55:15); same as "%H:%M:%S" | 
| '%D' | month/day/year from 01/01/00 (12/02/79); same as "%m/%d/%y" | 
| '%F' | year-month-day (1979-12-02); same as "%Y-%m-%d" | 
| '%c' | The preferred date and time representation; same as "%x %X" | 
| '%x' | The preferred date representation, same as "%a %b %d %\b" | 
| '%X' | The preferred time representation, same as "%H:%M:%\f" | 
| '${iso}' | Iso format, same as "%Y-%m-%dT%T" | 
| '${http}' | http format, same as "%a, %d %b %Y %T GMT" | 
| '${ctime}' | ctime format, same as "%a %b %d %T GMT %Y" | 
| '${rfc850}' | RFC850 format, same as "%A, %d-%b-%y %T GMT" | 
| '${rfc1123}' | RFC1123 format, same as "%a, %d %b %Y %T GMT" | 
| '${asctime}' | asctime format, same as "%a %b %d %T %Y" | 
d = date(1582,10,5)
assert(d:fmt('%D') == d:fmt("%m/%d/%y"))        -- month/day/year from 01/01/00 (12/02/79)
assert(d:fmt('%F') == d:fmt("%Y-%m-%d"))        -- year-month-day (1979-12-02)
assert(d:fmt('%h') == d:fmt("%b"))                      -- same as %b (Dec)
assert(d:fmt('%r') == d:fmt("%I:%M:%S %p"))     -- 12-hour time, from 01:00:00 AM (06:55:15 AM)
assert(d:fmt('%T') == d:fmt("%H:%M:%S"))        -- 24-hour time, from 00:00:00 (06:55:15)
assert(d:fmt('%a %A %b %B') == "Tue Tuesday Oct October")
assert(d:fmt('%C %d') == "15 05", d:fmt('%C %d'))
print(d:fmt[[
${iso} -- iso
${http} -- http
${ctime} -- ctime
${rfc850} -- rfc850
${rfc1123} -- rfc1123
${asctime} -- asctime
]])
              
-- Prints the current date and time, including time zone
d = date(false);
print(d:fmt("Today is %c GMT%z"))
--> "Today is Tue Oct 31 2000 01:58:14 GMT-0330"
-- Prints the current date and time in ISO format including time zone
d = date(false);
print(d:fmt("Today is ${iso}%z"))
--> "Today is 2000-10-31T01:58:14-0330"
-- Prints the current date and time in ISO format, indicates UTC
d = date(true);
print(d:fmt("Today is ${iso}Z"))
--> "Today is 2000-10-31T05:28:14Z"
              
dateObject:getbias()
              a = date(2^16) print(a:getbias())
dateObject:getclockhour()
              
a = date("10:59:59 pm")
assert(a:getclockhour()==10)
              year, month, and day value in a dateObject.
          
dateObject:getdate()
              a = date(1970, 1, 1) y, m, d = a:getdate() assert(y == 1970 and m == 1 and d == 1)
dateObject:getday()
              d = date(1966, 'sep', 6) assert(d:getday() == 6)
dateObject:getfracsec()
              
d = date("Wed Apr 04 2181 11:51:06.996 UTC")
assert(d:getfracsec() == 6.996)
              
dateObject:gethours()
              
d = date("Wed Apr 04 2181 11:51:06 UTC")
assert(d:gethours() == 11)
              
dateObject:getisoweekday()
              d = date(1970, 1, 1) assert(d:getisoweekday() == 4)
dateObject:getisoweeknumber()
              d = date(1975, 12, 29) assert(d:getisoweeknumber() == 1) assert(d:getisoyear() == 1976) assert(d:getisoweekday() == 1) d = date(1977, 1, 2) assert(d:getisoweeknumber() == 53) assert(d:getisoyear() == 1976) assert(d:getisoweekday() == 7)
dateObject:getisoyear()
              d = date(1996, 12, 30) assert(d:getisoyear() == 1997) d = date(1997, 01, 05) assert(d:getisoyear() == 1997)
dateObject:getminutes()
              
d = date("Wed Apr 04 2181 11:51:06 UTC")
assert(d:getminutes() == 51)
              
dateObject:getmonth()
              d = date(1966, 'sep', 6) assert(d:getmonth() == 9)
dateObject:getseconds()
              
d = date("Wed Apr 04 2181 11:51:06.123 UTC")
assert(d:getseconds() == 6)
              
dateObject:getticks()
              dateObject”.
d = date("Wed Apr 04 2181 11:51:06.123 UTC")
assert(d:getticks() == 123000)
              hours, minutes, seconds and ticks value in a dateObject.
          
dateObject:gettime()
              
a = date({hour=5,sec=.5,min=59})
h, m, s, t = a:gettime()
assert(t == 500000 and s == 0 and m == 59 and h == 5, tostring(a))
              
dateObject:getweekday()
              d = date(1970, 1, 1) assert(d:getweekday() == 5)
dateObject:getweeknumber([int_wdaybase])
              integer value. The
                    starting day of week (1 for sunday, 2 for monday, ... 7 for
                    saturday). If omitted the starting day of week is sunday.
a = date("12/31/1972")
b,c = a:getweeknumber(), a:getweeknumber(2)
assert(b==53 and c==52)
              
dateObject:getyear()
              d = date(1965, 'jan', 0) assert(d:getyear() == 1964)
dateObject:getyearday()
              d = date(2181, 1, 12) assert(d:getyearday() == 12)
dateObject:setday(int_mday)
              integer value. A numeric value
                    equal to the day of month. The default value is the current day of month| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1966, 'july', 6)
d:setday(1)
assert(d == date("1966 july 1"))
              dateObject:sethours(num_hour,num_min,num_sec,num_ticks)
number value. The hours value. The
                    default value is the current hours
                    valuenumber value. The minutes after
                    the hours value. The default value is the
                    current minutes valuenumber value. The seconds after
                    the minute value. The default value is the
                    current seconds valuenumber value. The ticks after the
                    second value. The default value is the current
                    ticks value| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 39, 54)
d:sethours(1, 1, 1)
assert(d == date("1984 DEc 3 1:1:1"))
              
dateObject:setisoweekday(int_wday)
              integer value. The day the week.
                    The default value is the current week
                    day| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date.isodate(1999, 52, 1) d:setisoweekday(7) assert(d == date(2000, 1, 02))
dateObject:setisoweeknumber(int_week,int_wday)
integer value. The week value.
                    The default value is the current
                    weekinteger value. The day of the week.
                    The default value is the current week
                    day| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1999, 12, 27) d:setisoweeknumber(51, 7) assert(d == date(1999, 12, 26))
dateObject:setisoyear(int_year,int_week,int_wday)
integer value. The year value. The
                    default value is the current yearinteger value. The week value.
                    The default value is the current
                    weekinteger value. The day of the week.
                    The default value is the current week
                    day| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1999, 12, 27) d:setisoyear(2000, 1) assert(d == date.isodate(2000,1,1)) assert(d:getyear() == 2000) assert(d:getday() == 3)
dateObject:setminutes(num_min,num_sec,num_ticks)
number value. The minutes after
                    the value. The default value is the current
                    minutes valuenumber value. The seconds after
                    the minute value. The default value is the
                    current seconds valuenumber value. The ticks after the
                    second value. The default value is the current
                    ticks value| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 39, 54) d:setminutes(59, 59, 500) assert(d == date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 59, 59, 500))
dateObject:setmonth(var_month,int_mday)
the current monthinteger value. The day of month.
                    The default value is the current day of
                    month| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1966, 'july', 6)
d:setmonth(1)
assert(d == date("6 jan 1966"))
              dateObject:setseconds(num_sec,num_ticks)
number value. The seconds after
                    the minute value. The default value is the
                    current seconds valuenumber value. The ticks after the
                    second value. The default value is the current
                    ticks value| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 39, 54) d:setseconds(59, date.ticks()) assert(d == date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 40))
dateObject:setticks(num_ticks)
              number value. The ticks after the
                    second value. The default value is the current
                    ticks value| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 39, 54) d:setticks(444) assert(d == date(1984, 12, 3, 4, 39, 54, 444))
dateObject:setyear(int_year,var_month,int_mday)
integer value. The year value. The
                    default value is the current yearthe
                    current monthinteger value. The day of month.
                    The default value is the current day of
                    month| Success | reference to the dateObject | 
| Failure | nil. | 
d = date(1966, 'july', 6)
d:setyear(2000)
assert(d == date("jul 6 2000"))
              
dateObject:spandays()
              a = date(2181, "aPr", 4, 6, 30, 30, 15000) b = date(a):adddays(2) c = date.diff(b, a) assert(c:spandays() == (2))
dateObject:spanhours()
              a = date(2181, "aPr", 4, 6, 30, 30, 15000) b = date(a):adddays(2) c = date.diff(b, a) assert(c:spanhours() == (2*24))
dateObject:spanminutes()
              a = date(2181, "aPr", 4, 6, 30, 30, 15000) b = date(a):adddays(2) c = date.diff(b, a) assert(c:spanminutes() == (2*24*60))
dateObject:spanseconds()
              a = date(2181, "aPr", 4, 6, 30, 30, 15000) b = date(a):adddays(2) c = date.diff(b, a) assert(c:spanseconds() == (2*24*60*60))
dateObject:spanticks()
              dateObject”.a = date(2181, "aPr", 4, 6, 30, 30, 15000) b = date(a):adddays(2) c = date.diff(b, a) assert(c:spanticks() == (2*24*60*60*1000000))
dateObject:tolocal()
              a = date(2^16) b = a:copy():tolocal(); print(a,b)
dateObject:toutc()
              a = date(2^16) b = a:copy():toutc(); print(a,b)
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~gpkatch/gdate-method.html - Date calculation algorithms is based on this site.