NSDateFormatter adds AM/PM even when using a fixed dateFormat string?

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Created Jul ’20

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I'm having a strange issue with NSDateFormatter. I'm using a fixed dateFormat string of yyyyMMdd-HHmmss, but on my iOS device (only; its fine in Simulator or on Mac) I get an extra AM/PM added to the string, and also missing leading zeros for the time portion:

Code Block languagedateFormat: "yyyyMMdd-HHmmss"
result 20200725-22454 PM

where I'd expect (and elsewhere get)

Code Block languagedateFormat: "yyyyMMdd-HHmmss"
result 20200725-022454

any ideas what I could be missing? Both my Mac and my test phone are set to 12-hour time, but as I understand it local settings should not matter when providing a dateFormat string...

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Answer 1

OOPer OP

Jul ’20

It's a well-known behavior.

Class NSDateFormatter

Working With Fixed Format Date Representations
...
When working with fixed format dates, such as RFC 3339, you set the dateFormat property to specify a format string. For most fixed formats, you should also set the locale property to a POSIX locale ("enUSPOSIX"), and set the timeZone property to UTC.

You need to set the locale as specified in the doc when using fixed format.

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