Regular Expression For Full ISO 8601 Date Syntax

Update: Currently, a working solution has been achieved with multiple regular expressions used simultaneously I'm looking for a regular expression that covers the range of acceptab

Solution 1:

Here's the full set of expressions I've found to achieve the variety of ISO 8601 syntax. The gist has been updated with these and additional tests for repeating intervals.

var regex = {
    'Date' : /^([\+-]?\d{4}(?!\d{2}\b))((-?)((0[1-9]|1[0-2])(\3([12]\d|0[1-9]|3[01]))?|W([0-4]\d|5[0-2])(-?[1-7])?|(00[1-9]|0[1-9]\d|[12]\d{2}|3([0-5]\d|6[1-6])))([T\s]((([01]\d|2[0-3])((:?)[0-5]\d)?|24\:?00)([\.,]\d+(?!:))?)?(\17[0-5]\d([\.,]\d+)?)?([zZ]|([\+-])([01]\d|2[0-3]):?([0-5]\d)?)?)?)?$/,
    'Duration' : /^P(?=\w*\d)(?:\d+Y|Y)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+W|W)?(?:\d+D|D)?(?:T(?:\d+H|H)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+(?:\­.\d{1,2})?S|S)?)?$/,      
    'Range of Date/Date' : /^([\+-]?\d{4}(?!\d{2}\b))((-?)((0[1-9]|1[0-2])(\3([12]\d|0[1-9]|3[01]))?|W([0-4]\d|5[0-2])(-?[1-7])?|(00[1-9]|0[1-9]\d|[12]\d{2}|3([0-5]\d|6[1-6])))([T\s]((([01]\d|2[0-3])((:?)[0-5]\d)?|24\:?00)([\.,]\d+(?!:))?)?(\17[0-5]\d([\.,]\d+)?)?([zZ]|([\+-])([01]\d|2[0-3]):?([0-5]\d)?)?)?)?(\/)([\+-]?\d{4}(?!\d{2}\b))((-?)((0[1-9]|1[0-2])(\3([12]\d|0[1-9]|3[01]))?|W([0-4]\d|5[0-2])(-?[1-7])?|(00[1-9]|0[1-9]\d|[12]\d{2}|3([0-5]\d|6[1-6])))([T\s]((([01]\d|2[0-3])((:?)[0-5]\d)?|24\:?00)([\.,]\d+(?!:))?)?(\17[0-5]\d([\.,]\d+)?)?([zZ]|([\+-])([01]\d|2[0-3]):?([0-5]\d)?)?)?)?$/,      
    'Range of Date/Duration' : /^([\+-]?\d{4}(?!\d{2}\b))((-?)((0[1-9]|1[0-2])(\3([12]\d|0[1-9]|3[01]))?|W([0-4]\d|5[0-2])(-?[1-7])?|(00[1-9]|0[1-9]\d|[12]\d{2}|3([0-5]\d|6[1-6])))([T\s]((([01]\d|2[0-3])((:?)[0-5]\d)?|24\:?00)([\.,]\d+(?!:))?)?(\17[0-5]\d([\.,]\d+)?)?([zZ]|([\+-])([01]\d|2[0-3]):?([0-5]\d)?)?)?)?(\/)P(?=\w*\d)(?:\d+Y|Y)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+W|W)?(?:\d+D|D)?(?:T(?:\d+H|H)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+(?:\­.\d{1,2})?S|S)?)?$/,
    'Range of Duration/Date' : /^P(?=\w*\d)(?:\d+Y|Y)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+W|W)?(?:\d+D|D)?(?:T(?:\d+H|H)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+(?:\­.\d{1,2})?S|S)?)?\/([\+-]?\d{4}(?!\d{2}\b))((-?)((0[1-9]|1[0-2])(\3([12]\d|0[1-9]|3[01]))?|W([0-4]\d|5[0-2])(-?[1-7])?|(00[1-9]|0[1-9]\d|[12]\d{2}|3([0-5]\d|6[1-6])))([T\s]((([01]\d|2[0-3])((:?)[0-5]\d)?|24\:?00)([\.,]\d+(?!:))?)?(\17[0-5]\d([\.,]\d+)?)?([zZ]|([\+-])([01]\d|2[0-3]):?([0-5]\d)?)?)?)?$/,
    'Repeating interval' : /^R\d*\/([\+-]?\d{4}(?!\d{2}\b))((-?)((0[1-9]|1[0-2])(\3([12]\d|0[1-9]|3[01]))?|W([0-4]\d|5[0-2])(-?[1-7])?|(00[1-9]|0[1-9]\d|[12]\d{2}|3([0-5]\d|6[1-6])))([T\s]((([01]\d|2[0-3])((:?)[0-5]\d)?|24\:?00)([\.,]\d+(?!:))?)?(\17[0-5]\d([\.,]\d+)?)?([zZ]|([\+-])([01]\d|2[0-3]):?([0-5]\d)?)?)?)?\/P(?=\w*\d)(?:\d+Y|Y)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+W|W)?(?:\d+D|D)?(?:T(?:\d+H|H)?(?:\d+M|M)?(?:\d+(?:\­.\d{1,2})?S|S)?)?$/
}

Solution 2:

Allow me to question the full approach. Dates, instants, and ranges are different concepts, accepting them interchangeably (what I understand from wanting a single regular expression for all of them) will lead to user, programmer, or (even worse) both error.

If the allowed formats are too complex, somebody will make mistakes. Can't your application work with a subset?

Solution 3:

Is a regex the best/most appropriate solution for this?

It appears that you're really trying to parse a string according to the spec. Just look at how complex some of those regexes are that you've tried.

My suggestion would be either to make simpler regexes that match each pattern mixed in with some if/then code or to use/create a full on parser.

Remember that regexes were designed for pattern matching, not parsing. They're great for pulling out a quick value from a string but not for more complex things.