distance_of_time_in_words

Reports the approximate distance in time between two Time, Date or DateTime objects or integers as seconds. Pass include_seconds: true if you want more detailed approximations when distance < 1 min, 29 secs. Distances are reported based on the following table:

0 <-> 29 secs                                                             # => less than a minute
30 secs <-> 1 min, 29 secs                                                # => 1 minute
1 min, 30 secs <-> 44 mins, 29 secs                                       # => [2..44] minutes
44 mins, 30 secs <-> 89 mins, 29 secs                                     # => about 1 hour
89 mins, 30 secs <-> 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs                             # => about [2..24] hours
23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 41 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs                     # => 1 day
41 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs  <-> 29 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs           # => [2..29] days
29 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 44 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs   # => about 1 month
44 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 29 secs   # => about 2 months
59 days, 23 hrs, 59 mins, 30 secs <-> 1 yr minus 1 sec                    # => [2..12] months
1 yr <-> 1 yr, 3 months                                                   # => about 1 year
1 yr, 3 months <-> 1 yr, 9 months                                         # => over 1 year
1 yr, 9 months <-> 2 yr minus 1 sec                                       # => almost 2 years
2 yrs <-> max time or date                                                # => (same rules as 1 yr)

With include_seconds: true and the difference < 1 minute 29 seconds:

0-4   secs      # => less than 5 seconds
5-9   secs      # => less than 10 seconds
10-19 secs      # => less than 20 seconds
20-39 secs      # => half a minute
40-59 secs      # => less than a minute
60-89 secs      # => 1 minute

from_time = Time.now
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 50.minutes)                                # => about 1 hour
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, 50.minutes.from_now)                                   # => about 1 hour
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 15.seconds)                                # => less than a minute
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 15.seconds, include_seconds: true)         # => less than 20 seconds
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, 3.years.from_now)                                      # => about 3 years
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 60.hours)                                  # => 3 days
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 45.seconds, include_seconds: true)         # => less than a minute
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time - 45.seconds, include_seconds: true)         # => less than a minute
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, 76.seconds.from_now)                                   # => 1 minute
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 1.year + 3.days)                           # => about 1 year
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 3.years + 6.months)                        # => over 3 years
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 4.years + 9.days + 30.minutes + 5.seconds) # => about 4 years

to_time = Time.now + 6.years + 19.days
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, to_time, include_seconds: true)                        # => about 6 years
distance_of_time_in_words(to_time, from_time, include_seconds: true)                        # => about 6 years
distance_of_time_in_words(Time.now, Time.now)                                               # => less than a minute

With the scope option, you can define a custom scope for Rails to look up the translation.

For example you can define the following in your locale (e.g. en.yml).

datetime:
  distance_in_words:
    short:
      about_x_hours:
        one: 'an hour'
        other: '%{count} hours'

See github.com/svenfuchs/rails-i18n/blob/master/rails/locale/en.yml for more examples.

Which will then result in the following:

from_time = Time.now
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 50.minutes, scope: 'datetime.distance_in_words.short') # => "an hour"
distance_of_time_in_words(from_time, from_time + 3.hours, scope: 'datetime.distance_in_words.short')    # => "3 hours"