Read dates from file and do a compare

[BravoOscar]

Hi,
I need some help with a module I’m trying do develop. I need to read data from a *.json and compare the data with current date. If one or more of data are equal to current date, it will show a picture otherwise it doesn’t.
I think the date must be stored in a *.json file and read with NODE_HELPER.JS. But I can’t get it to work.

Example. Of *.JSON file:

{
Case1 [
“21.02.2021”,
“25.02.2021”,
“28.02.2021”
]
Case2 [
“12.03.2021”,
“23.03.2021”,
“29.04.2021”
]
}

Or another example.

{
“case1” , “21.02.2021”,
“case1” , “25.02.2021”,
“case1” , “28.02.2021”,
“case2” , “12.03.2021”,
“case2” , “23.03.2021”,
“case2” , “29.04.2021
]
}

I have tried to do a read command, but I’m not able to see if it can read the file correct or even find the file that I’m trying to read in.

So can someone help me with a working example of reading from a file and do the compare?

[sdetweil]

@bravooscar
in node_helper.js

var NodeHelper = require("node_helper");
const fs = require('fs')
const path = require('path')
// add require of other javascripot components here
// var xxx = require('yyy') here

module.exports = NodeHelper.create({


	// handle messages from our module// each notification indicates a different messages
	// payload is a data structure that is different per message.. up to you to design this
	socketNotificationReceived(notification, payload) {
		console.log(this.name + " received a socket notification: " + notification + " - Payload: " + payload);
		// if config message from module
		if (notification === "CONFIG") {
			// save payload config info
			this.config=payload
			let p = path.resolve('.','modules',this.name,this.config.filename)
			console.log("file="+p)
			fs.readFile(p, (error,filedata)=> {
			console.log("filedata="+filedata)
			let data =JSON.parse(filedata)
			this.sendSocketNotification('filedata', data)
			})
		}
	},
});

[BravoOscar]

@sdetweil

What do you meen by " need some trigger function"? is that in the node_helper.js or where should it be?

modulename.js sends node_helper a socket notification w the module config info
node_helper sends the data back as object
Should I write some code in the modulename.js that call file read or do you mean that this is the place to make the compare?

[sdetweil]

@bravooscar compare back in modulename.js, it needs to decide.

trigger
just say nothing happens in node helper without some event

this should get the file contents and send to modulename.

modulename.js sends socketNotification to helper w config info to start the process

[sdetweil]

@bravooscar

full node_helper.js above, tested, working
need to get path to file in module folder (not current folder)

sends object to module to make decisions on what to display

[BravoOscar]

@sdetweil

It now works, I can get data into my new object.

My new json file look like this:

{
  "RecyclingDates": [
{ "Type": "House", "Date": "02.01.2021"},
{ "Type": "House", "Date": "08.01.2021"},
{ "Type": "House", "Date": "15.01.2021"},
{ "Type": "Glass", "Date": "22.01.2021"},
{ "Type": "Glass", "Date": "29.01.2021"},
{ "Type": "Glass", "Date": "05.02.2021"},
{ "Type": "Garden", "Date": "12.02.2021"},
{ "Type": "Garden", "Date": "19.02.2021"},
{ "Type": "Garden", "Date": "26.02.2021"},
{ "Type": "Garden", "Date": "05.03.2021"},
{ "Type": "Big", "Date": "12.03.2021"},
{ "Type": "Big", "Date": "19.03.2021"},
{ "Type": "Big", "Date": "26.03.2021"}
]
}

I get this object output:

Object
RecyclingDates: Array(13)
0:
Type: "House"
Date: "02.01.2021"
__proto__: Object
1:
Type: "House"
Date: "08.01.2021"
__proto__: Object
2: {Type: "House", Date: "15.01.2021"}
3: {Type: "Glass", Date: "22.01.2021"}
4: {Type: "Glass", Date: "29.01.2021"}
5: {Type: "Glass", Date: "05.02.2021"}
6: {Type: "Garden", Date: "12.02.2021"}
7: {Type: "Garden", Date: "19.02.2021"}
8: {Type: "Garden", Date: "26.02.2021"}
9: {Type: "Garden", Date: "05.03.2021"}
10: {Type: "Big", Date: "12.03.2021"}
11: {Type: "Big", Date: "19.03.2021"}
12: {Type: "Big", Date: "26.03.2021"}
length: 13

I opend “0” and “1” in the object, so you can see how its stored in the object.

How do I access these values in my module.js file. I hope to make a loop/compare of the array.
My plan is to show different pictures according to the Type and if the Date is equale to current date.

[sdetweil]

@bravooscar

for( let entry of object.RecylingDates){
  if (entry.Type ==='House'){
      if(entry.Date==='........'){
      }
   }
}

you can use moment().format(???)
where ??? is the layout of yiur date strings to get something for today, tomorrow…

[BravoOscar]

@sdetweil

I have this now, and this is working.

for(let type of Object.keys(obj)){
var date = obj[type];
console.log(type, date);
}

This will show the correct type and date.
But I have something in mind, that look like this:

if date === currentdate {
picture=type+"Div"}

ex:  
20.02.2021 === 20.02.2021 then var piture= "bigDiv"

picture is then displayed.

but this have to be a loop, because there can be same dates but with different types(pictures)

Does this gives any meaning? its hard to descripe, but I’m realy glad for all the help I get.

[sdetweil]

@bravooscar as i said u can use the js library moment().format(‘dd.mm.yyyy’) to get today in string to compare

see the online doc for exact syntax

[BravoOscar]

@sdetweil
That I know. I allready have the actual date and the date from the array,
Im unsure of how to get all the dates and all the types from the array, so if there are more of the same dates, then there are more types taht has to be displayed.