Chrono I/O: Unformatted and Formatted

Chrono I/O consists of reading and writing chrono types. The various chrono types support unformatted writing and formatted one with the new formatting library.

This post is the tenth in my detailed journey through the chrono extension in C++20:

Output

Most chrono types, such as time duration, time points, and calendar dates, support direct writing without format specification. Today, I continue with unformatted calendar dates.

Unformatted

The following tables show the default output format of calendar dates.

Calendar Dates

The following table shows the format specifiers, including a short description and an example. For the full description, refer to the cppreference.com/chrono/parse page.

// createCalendar.cpp

#include <chrono>
#include <iostream>
 
int main() {

    std::cout << '\n';

    using namespace std::chrono_literals; 

    using std::chrono::last;

    using std::chrono::year;
    using std::chrono::month;
    using std::chrono::day;

    using std::chrono::year_month;
    using std::chrono::year_month_day;
    using std::chrono::year_month_day_last;
    using std::chrono::year_month_weekday;
    using std::chrono::year_month_weekday_last;
    using std::chrono::month_weekday;
    using std::chrono::month_weekday_last;
    using std::chrono::month_day;
    using std::chrono::month_day_last;
    using std::chrono::weekday_last;
    using std::chrono::weekday;

    using std::chrono::January;
    using std::chrono::February;
    using std::chrono::June;
    using std::chrono::March;
    using std::chrono::October;

    using std::chrono::Monday;
    using std::chrono::Thursday;
    using std::chrono::Sunday;

    constexpr auto yearMonthDay{year(1940)/month(6)/day(26)};   
    std::cout << yearMonthDay << " ";
    std::cout << year_month_day(1940y, June, 26d) << '\n';                   

    std::cout << '\n';

    constexpr auto yearMonthDayLast{year(2010)/March/last};                  
    std::cout << yearMonthDayLast << " ";
    std::cout << year_month_day_last(2010y, month_day_last(month(3))) << '\n';

    constexpr auto yearMonthWeekday{year(2020)/March/Thursday[2]};           
    std::cout << yearMonthWeekday << " ";
    std::cout << year_month_weekday(2020y, month(March), Thursday[2]) << '\n';

    constexpr auto yearMonthWeekdayLast{year(2010)/March/Monday[last]};        
    std::cout << yearMonthWeekdayLast << " ";
    std::cout << year_month_weekday_last(2010y, month(March), weekday_last(Monday));

    std::cout << "\n\n";

    constexpr auto day_{day(19)};      
    std::cout << day_  << " ";
    std::cout << day(19) << '\n';

    constexpr auto month_{month(1)};  
    std::cout << month_  << " ";
    std::cout << month(1) << '\n';

    constexpr auto year_{year(1988)}; 
    std::cout << year_  << " ";
    std::cout << year(1988) << '\n';

    constexpr auto weekday_{weekday(5)};
    std::cout << weekday_  << " ";
    std::cout << weekday(5) << '\n';
 
    constexpr auto yearMonth{year(1988)/1};
    std::cout << yearMonth  << " ";
    std::cout << year_month(year(1988), January) << '\n';
 
    constexpr auto monthDay{10/day(22)};
    std::cout << monthDay <<  " ";
    std::cout << month_day(October, day(22)) << '\n';

    constexpr auto monthDayLast{June/last};
    std::cout << monthDayLast << " ";
    std::cout << month_day_last(month(6)) << '\n';
 
    constexpr auto monthWeekday{2/Monday[3]};
    std::cout << monthWeekday << " ";
    std::cout << month_weekday(February, Monday[3]) << '\n';
 
    constexpr auto monthWeekDayLast{June/Sunday[last]};
    std::cout << monthWeekDayLast << " ";
    std::cout << month_weekday_last(June, weekday_last(Sunday)) << '\n';

    std::cout << '\n';

}

Here is the output of the program.

Formatted

The following tables show the format specifiers, including a short description and an example. Refer to the cppreference.com/chrono/parse page for the full description.

The following program uses the time specifier and calendar date specifiers.

// formattedOutputChrono.cpp

#include <chrono>
#include <iostream>
#include <thread>

int main() {

    std::cout << '\n';

    using namespace std::literals;

    auto start = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();   // (1)
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(33ms);
    auto end = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();     // (2)
    std::cout << std::format("The job took {} seconds\n", end - start);
    std::cout << std::format("The job took {:%S} seconds\n", end - start);

    std::cout << '\n';

    auto now = std::chrono::system_clock::now();    // (3)  
    std::cout << "now: " << now << '\n';
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%c}: " << std::format("{:%c}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%x}: " << std::format("{:%x}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%F}: " << std::format("{:%F}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%D}: " << std::format("{:%D}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%Y}: " << std::format("{:%Y}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%y}: " << std::format("{:%y}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%b}: " << std::format("{:%b}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%B}: " << std::format("{:%B}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%m}: " << std::format("{:%m}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%W}: " << std::format("{:%W}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%U}: " << std::format("{:%U}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%a}: " << std::format("{:%a}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%A}: " << std::format("{:%A}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%w}: " << std::format("{:%w}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%u}: " << std::format("{:%u}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%e}: " << std::format("{:%e}\n", now);
    std::cout << "Specifier {:%d}: " << std::format("{:%d}\n", now);

    std::cout << '\n';

}

The call std::chrono::steady_clock::now() (lines 1 and 2) determines the current time. You should use the std::chrono::steady_clock for measurements because this clock is monotonic and cannot be adjusted, such as std::chrono::system_clock (line 3).

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What’s Next?

You can also apply the format specifier for formatted input.

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