[GH-ISSUE #2208] [FR] Move date parsing and formatting to the frontend #901

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opened 2026-03-23 20:42:51 +00:00 by mirror · 1 comment

mirror commented

2026-03-23 20:42:51 +00:00

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Originally created by @richardshiue on GitHub (Apr 6, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy/issues/2208

Description

Currently, all the time parsing and formatting for date cells is done in the backend. I wish to move all of this to the frontend and the backend will only store the timestamp and the include_time flag.

Pros:

will be able to readily translate date strings into other languages (e.g. lundi or Monday). The backend currently does not do any translation at all, and maybe shouldn't either.
will be able to readily adapt to the current locale (locale-specific date formats)
will be able to readily reference the current timezone and adapt to locale changes.

Cons:

no centralized parsing and formatting for other frontends, need to be separately implemented (Tauri)
no centralized testing in the backend
differs from other field types where the cell data is converted to a readable format using the field type options

Can I get some feedback before starting work on this?

Impact

Improves date field type and makes it easier to extend for future features

Additional Context

No response

Originally created by @richardshiue on GitHub (Apr 6, 2023). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy/issues/2208 ### Description Currently, all the time parsing and formatting for date cells is done in the backend. I wish to move all of this to the frontend and the backend will only store the timestamp and the include_time flag. Pros: - will be able to readily translate date strings into other languages (e.g. lundi or Monday). The backend currently does not do any translation at all, and maybe shouldn't either. - will be able to readily adapt to the current locale ([locale-specific date formats](https://unicode-org.github.io/icu/userguide/format_parse/datetime/#producing-normal-date-formats-for-a-locale)) - will be able to readily reference the current timezone and adapt to locale changes. Cons: - no centralized parsing and formatting for other frontends, need to be separately implemented (Tauri) - no centralized testing in the backend - differs from other field types where the cell data is converted to a readable format using the field type options Can I get some feedback before starting work on this? ### Impact Improves date field type and makes it easier to extend for future features ### Additional Context _No response_

mirror closed this issue

2026-03-23 20:42:51 +00:00

mirror commented

2026-03-23 20:42:52 +00:00

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@appflowy commented on GitHub (Apr 7, 2023):

I am a fan of don't repeat code. So this is why I put the logic in the backend. Different UI framework share the same logic.
n Rust, you can calculate the current time with UTC using the chrono and chrone_tz

For example, we can get the time offset from Local. Then we can use the time with the stored UTC timestamp.

use chrono::{FixedOffset, NaiveDateTime};

#[test]
fn utc_to_native() {
  use chrono::Local;
  let timestamp = 1647251762;
  let native = NaiveDateTime::from_timestamp_opt(timestamp, 0).unwrap();

  let offset = Local::now().offset().clone();
  let auto_timezone = chrono::DateTime::<chrono::Local>::from_utc(native, offset);
  println!("{}", auto_timezone);

  let utc_7_offset = FixedOffset::east_opt(7 * 3600).unwrap();
  let utc_7_timezone = chrono::DateTime::<chrono::Local>::from_utc(native, utc_7_offset);
  println!("{}", utc_7_timezone);
}

@appflowy commented on GitHub (Apr 7, 2023): I am a fan of `don't repeat code`. So this is why I put the logic in the backend. Different UI framework share the same logic. n Rust, you can calculate the current time with UTC using the `chrono` and `chrone_tz` For example, we can get the time offset from `Local`. Then we can use the time with the stored UTC timestamp. ```rust use chrono::{FixedOffset, NaiveDateTime}; #[test] fn utc_to_native() { use chrono::Local; let timestamp = 1647251762; let native = NaiveDateTime::from_timestamp_opt(timestamp, 0).unwrap(); let offset = Local::now().offset().clone(); let auto_timezone = chrono::DateTime::<chrono::Local>::from_utc(native, offset); println!("{}", auto_timezone); let utc_7_offset = FixedOffset::east_opt(7 * 3600).unwrap(); let utc_7_timezone = chrono::DateTime::<chrono::Local>::from_utc(native, utc_7_offset); println!("{}", utc_7_timezone); } ```

mirror referenced this issue

2026-03-23 21:37:43 +00:00

[PR #901] [MERGED] feat: Adjust UI details #4419

mirror referenced this issue

2026-03-24 21:43:59 +00:00

[PR #901] [MERGED] feat: Adjust UI details #12831