OhioBox.Time

OhioBox.Time is a wrapper for DateTime, allowing an application to use the same, consistent DateTime object and writing proper tests for services which needs date or time.

OhioBox.Time provides a single entry point for using date related operations called SystemTime.Now represents an instance of UTC DateTime and can be controlled and mocked to for testing purposes.

Getting started

Installation

How to use

Getting the current date and time is done using Now method:

using System;
using OhioBox.Time;

class Progam
{
	public static void Main()
	{
		var currentDateTime = SystemTime.Now(); // Returns a DateTime instance

		Console.WriteLine(currentDateTime.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm"));
	}
}

The output here will be UTC date and time (i.e. DateTime.UtcNow).

Testing

One of the more challanging problems in testing, is how to test usage of DateTime.

Assuming we have the following method:

public class RecentOrdersFetcher
{
	IList<Order> GetOrdersFromLastMonth()
	{
		var lastMonth = DateTime.Now.AddMonths(-1);
		...
	}
}

Testing this kind of service requires controling DateTime.Now functionality. Since most mocking frameworks don’t allow overriding static methods & properties, most applications simply extract the usage of DateTime.Now to dependency or to another service.

Here’s where SystemTime shows its strength. Converting the service to use SystemTime will result in:

using OhioBox.Time;

public class RecentOrdersFetcher
{
	IList<Order> GetOrdersFromLastMonth()
	{
		var lastMonth = SystemTime.Now().AddMonths(-1);
		...
	}
}

And in order to test it, lets use SystemTimeScope:

[Test]
public void GetOrdersFromLastMonth_Called_ReturnsAllOrdersFromLastMonth()
{
	var today = new DateTime(2018, 1, 7);

	using (new SystemTimeScope(() => today))
	{
		// Arrange test here

		var result = _target.GetOrdersFromLastMonth();

		// Assert here
	}
}

Inside the scope of SystemTimeScope, a call to SystemTime.Now() will result with 2018-1-7 DateTime instance.

Once the scope is completed, SystemTime.Now() resets to its default (UtcNow).

DateTime Extensions

UTC to CST

var date = new DateTime(2018, 1, 7, 10, 34, 22, DateTimeKind.Utc);
var cstDate = SystemTime.Now().ConvertFromUtcToCst(); // Will return 2018-1-7 4:34:22

Fiscal Date MetaData

Calculates the current fiscal date based on 4-5-4 fiscal calendar method.

var currentFiscalMetaData = new DateTime(2020, 7, 23).GetFiscalMetaData();
Console.WriteLine($"The current fiscal medata data are: year: {currentFiscalMetaData.Year}, quarter: {currentFiscalMetaData.Quarter}, month {currentFiscalMetaData.Month} and week: {currentFiscalMetaData.Week}");
// Output: The current fiscal medata data are: year: 2020, quarter: 2, month 6 and week: 25

Development

How to contribute

We encorage contribution via pull requests on any feature you see fit.

When submitting a pull request make sure to do the following:

• Check that new and updated code follows OhioBox existing code formatting and naming standard
• Run all unit and integration tests to ensure no existing functionality has been affected
• Write unit or integration tests to test your changes. All features and fixed bugs must have tests to verify they work
  Read GitHub Help for more details about creating pull requests