File Coverage

blib/lib/DateTime/Format/Natural.pm

Criterion	Covered	Total	%
statement	389	409	95.1
branch	121	144	84.0
condition	73	106	68.8
subroutine	60	60	100.0
pod	7	7	100.0
total	650	726	89.5

package DateTime::Format::Natural;

use strict;
use warnings;
use base qw(
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Calc
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Duration
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Expand
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Extract
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Formatted
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Helpers
    DateTime::Format::Natural::Rewrite
);
use boolean qw(true false);

use Carp qw(croak);
use DateTime ();
use DateTime::HiRes ();
use DateTime::TimeZone ();
use List::MoreUtils qw(all any none);
use Params::Validate ':all';
use Scalar::Util qw(blessed);
use Storable qw(dclone);

use DateTime::Format::Natural::Utils qw(trim);

our $VERSION = '1.18';

validation_options(
    on_fail => sub
{
    my ($error) = @_;
    chomp $error;
    croak $error;
},
    stack_skip => 2,
);

sub new
{
    my $class = shift;

    my $self = bless {}, ref($class) || $class;

    $self->_init_check(@_);
    $self->_init(@_);

    return $self;
}

sub _init
{
    my $self = shift;
    my %opts = @_;

    my %presets = (
        lang          => 'en',
        format        => 'd/m/y',
        demand_future =>  false,
        prefer_future =>  false,
        time_zone     => 'floating',
    );
    foreach my $opt (keys %presets) {
        $self->{ucfirst $opt} = $presets{$opt};
    }
    foreach my $opt (keys %opts) {
        if (defined $opts{$opt}) {
            $self->{ucfirst $opt} = $opts{$opt};
        }
    }
    $self->{Daytime} = $opts{daytime} || {};

    my $mod = join '::', (__PACKAGE__, 'Lang', uc $self->{Lang});
    eval "require $mod" or die $@;

    $self->{data} = $mod->__new();
    $self->{grammar_class} = $mod;

    $self->{mode} = '';
}

sub _init_check
{
    my $self = shift;

    validate(@_, {
        demand_future => {
            # SCALARREF due to boolean.pm's implementation
            type => BOOLEAN | SCALARREF,
            optional => true,
            callbacks => {
                'mutually exclusive' => sub
                {
                    return true unless exists $_[1]->{prefer_future};
                    die "prefer_future provided\n";
                },
            },
        },
        lang => {
            type => SCALAR,
            optional => true,
            regex => qr!^(?:en)$!i,
        },
        format => {
            type => SCALAR,
            optional => true,
            regex => qr!^(?:
                                                      (?: (?: [dmy]{1,4}[-./] ){2}[dmy]{1,4} )
                                                          |
                                                      (?: [dm]{1,2}/[dm]{1,2} )
                                                  )$!ix,
        },
        prefer_future => {
            # SCALARREF due to boolean.pm's implementation
            type => BOOLEAN | SCALARREF,
            optional => true,
            callbacks => {
                'mutually exclusive' => sub
                {
                    return true unless exists $_[1]->{demand_future};
                    die "demand_future provided\n";
                },
            },
        },
        time_zone => {
            type => SCALAR | OBJECT,
            optional => true,
            callbacks => {
                'valid timezone' => sub
                {
                    my $val = shift;
                    if (blessed($val)) {
                        return $val->isa('DateTime::TimeZone');
                    }
                    else {
                        eval { DateTime::TimeZone->new(name => $val) };
                        return !$@;
                    }
                }
            },
        },
        daytime => {
            type => HASHREF,
            optional => true,
            callbacks => {
                'valid daytime' => sub
                {
                    my $href = shift;
                    my %daytimes = map { $_ => true } qw(morning afternoon evening);
                    if (any { !$daytimes{$_} } keys %$href) {
                        die "spelling of daytime\n";
                    }
                    elsif (any { !defined $href->{$_} } keys %$href) {
                        die "undefined hour\n";
                    }
                    elsif (any { $href->{$_} !~ /^\d{1,2}$/ } keys %$href) {
                        die "not a valid number\n";
                    }
                    elsif (any { $href->{$_} < 0 || $href->{$_} > 23 } keys %$href) {
                        die "hour out of range\n";
                    }
                    else {
                        return true;
                    }
                }
            },
        },
        datetime => {
            type => OBJECT,
            optional => true,
            callbacks => {
                'valid object' => sub
                {
                    my $obj = shift;
                    blessed($obj) && $obj->isa('DateTime');
                }
            },
        },
    });
}

sub _init_vars
{
    my $self = shift;

    delete @$self{qw(keyword modified postprocess)};
}

sub parse_datetime
{
    my $self = shift;

    $self->_parse_init(@_);

    $self->{input_string} = $self->{date_string};

    $self->{mode} = 'parse';

    my $date_string = $self->{date_string};

    $self->_rewrite(\$date_string);

    my ($formatted) = $date_string =~ $self->{data}->__regexes('format');
    my %count = $self->_count_separators($formatted);

    $self->{tokens} = [];
    $self->{traces} = [];

    if ($self->_check_formatted('ymd', \%count)) {
        my $dt = $self->_parse_formatted_ymd($date_string, \%count);
        return $dt if blessed($dt);
    }
    elsif ($self->_check_formatted('md', \%count)) {
        my $dt = $self->_parse_formatted_md($date_string);
        return $dt if blessed($dt);

        if ($self->{Prefer_future} || $self->{Demand_future}) {
            $self->_advance_future('md');
        }
    }
    elsif ($date_string =~ /^(\d{4}(?:-\d{2}){0,2})T(\d{2}(?::\d{2}){0,2})$/) {
        my ($date, $time) = ($1, $2);

        my %args;

        @args{qw(year month day)} = split /-/, $date;
        $args{$_} ||= 01 foreach qw(month day);

        @args{qw(hour minute second)} = split /:/, $time;
        $args{$_} ||= 00 foreach qw(minute second);

        my $valid_date = $self->_check_date(map $args{$_}, qw(year month day));
        my $valid_time = $self->_check_time(map $args{$_}, qw(hour minute second));

        if (not $valid_date && $valid_time) {
            my $type = !$valid_date ? 'date' : 'time';
            $self->_set_failure;
            $self->_set_error("(invalid $type)");
            return $self->_get_datetime_object;
        }

        $self->_set(%args);

        $self->{datetime}->truncate(to => 'second');
        $self->_set_truncated;
        $self->_set_valid_exp;
    }
    elsif ($date_string =~ /^([+-]) (\d+?) ([a-zA-Z]+)$/x) {
        my ($prefix, $value, $unit) = ($1, $2, lc $3);

        my %methods = (
            '+' => '_add',
            '-' => '_subtract',
        );
        my $method = $methods{$prefix};

        if (none { $unit =~ /^${_}s?$/ } @{$self->{data}->__units('ordered')}) {
            $self->_set_failure;
            $self->_set_error("(invalid unit)");
            return $self->_get_datetime_object;
        }
        $self->$method($unit => $value);

        $self->_set_valid_exp;
    }
    elsif ($date_string =~ /^\d{14}$/) {
        my %args;
        @args{qw(year month day hour minute second)} = $date_string =~ /^(\d{4})(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})$/;

        my $valid_date = $self->_check_date(map $args{$_}, qw(year month day));
        my $valid_time = $self->_check_time(map $args{$_}, qw(hour minute second));

        if (not $valid_date && $valid_time) {
            my $type = !$valid_date ? 'date' : 'time';
            $self->_set_failure;
            $self->_set_error("(invalid $type)");
            return $self->_get_datetime_object;
        }

        $self->_set(%args);

        $self->{datetime}->truncate(to => 'second');
        $self->_set_truncated;
        $self->_set_valid_exp;
    }
    else {
        @{$self->{tokens}} = split /\s+/, $date_string;
        $self->{data}->__init('tokens')->($self);
        $self->{count}{tokens} = @{$self->{tokens}};

        $self->_process;
    }

    my $trace = $self->_trace_string;
    if (defined $trace) {
        @{$self->{traces}} = $trace;
    }

    return $self->_get_datetime_object;
}

sub _params_init
{
    my $self = shift;
    my $params = pop;

    if (@_ > 1) {
        validate(@_, { string => { type => SCALAR }});
        my %opts = @_;
        foreach my $opt (keys %opts) {
            ${$params->{$opt}} = $opts{$opt};
        }
    }
    else {
        validate_pos(@_, { type => SCALAR });
        (${$params->{string}}) = @_;
    }

    trim($params->{string});
}

sub _parse_init
{
    my $self = shift;

    $self->_params_init(@_, { string => \$self->{date_string} });

    my $set_datetime = sub
    {
        my ($method, $args) = @_;

        if (exists $self->{Datetime} && $method eq 'now') {
            $self->{datetime} = dclone($self->{Datetime});
        }
        else {
            $self->{datetime} = DateTime::HiRes->$method(
                time_zone => $self->{Time_zone},
                %$args,
            );
        }
    };

    if ($self->{running_tests}) {
        $self->{datetime} = $self->{datetime_test}->clone;
    }
    else {
        $set_datetime->('now', {});
    }

    $self->_init_vars;

    $self->_unset_failure;
    $self->_unset_error;
    $self->_unset_valid_exp;
    $self->_unset_trace;
    $self->_unset_truncated;
}

sub parse_datetime_duration
{
    my $self = shift;

    my $duration_string;
    $self->_params_init(@_, { string => \$duration_string });
    my $timespan_sep = $self->{data}->__timespan('literal');

    my @date_strings = $duration_string =~ /\s+ $timespan_sep \s+/ix
      ? do { $self->{duration} = true;
             split /\s+ $timespan_sep \s+/ix, $duration_string }
      : do { $self->{duration} = false;
             ($duration_string) };

    my $max = 2;

    my $shrinked = false;
    if (@date_strings > $max) {
        my $offset = $max;
        splice (@date_strings, $offset);
        $shrinked = true;
    }

    $self->_rewrite_duration(\@date_strings);

    $self->_pre_duration(\@date_strings);
    @$self{qw(state truncated_duration)} = ({}, []);

    my (@queue, @traces, @truncated);
    foreach my $date_string (@date_strings) {
        push @queue, $self->parse_datetime($date_string);
        $self->_save_state(
            valid_expression => $self->_get_valid_exp,
            failure          => $self->_get_failure,
            error            => $self->_get_error,
        );
        if (@{$self->{traces}}) {
            push @traces, $self->{traces}[0];
        }
        if ($self->{running_tests}) {
            push @truncated, $self->_get_truncated;
        }
    }

    $self->_post_duration(\@queue, \@traces, \@truncated);
    $self->_restore_state;

    delete @$self{qw(duration insert state)};

    @{$self->{traces}}             = @traces;
    @{$self->{truncated_duration}} = @truncated;
    $self->{input_string}          = $duration_string;

    if ($shrinked) {
        $self->_set_failure;
        $self->_set_error("(limit of $max duration substrings exceeded)");
    }

    return @queue;
}

sub extract_datetime
{
    my $self = shift;

    my $extract_string;
    $self->_params_init(@_, { string => \$extract_string });

    $self->_unset_failure;
    $self->_unset_error;
    $self->_unset_valid_exp;

    $self->{input_string} = $extract_string;

    $self->{mode} = 'extract';

    my @expressions = $self->_extract_expressions($extract_string);

    $self->_set_valid_exp if @expressions;

    return wantarray ? @expressions : $expressions[0];
}

sub success
{
    my $self = shift;

    return ($self->_get_valid_exp && !$self->_get_failure) ? true : false;
}

sub error
{
    my $self = shift;

    return '' if $self->success;

    my $error = sub
    {
        return undef unless defined $self->{mode} && length $self->{mode};
        my %errors = (
            extract => "'$self->{input_string}' cannot be extracted from",
            parse   => "'$self->{input_string}' does not parse",
        );
        return $errors{$self->{mode}};
    }->();

    if (defined $error) {
        $error .= ' ' . ($self->_get_error || '(perhaps you have some garbage?)');
    }
    else {
        $error = 'neither extracting nor parsing method invoked';
    }

    return $error;
}

sub trace
{
    my $self = shift;

    return @{$self->{traces} || []};
}

sub _process
{
    my $self = shift;

    my %opts;

    if (!exists $self->{lookup}) {
        foreach my $keyword (keys %{$self->{data}->__grammar('')}) {
            my $count = scalar @{$self->{data}->__grammar($keyword)->[0]};
            push @{$self->{lookup}{$count}}, [ $keyword, false ];
            if ($self->_expand_for($keyword)) {
                push @{$self->{lookup}{$count + 1}}, [ $keyword, true ];
            }
        }
    }

    PARSE: foreach my $lookup (@{$self->{lookup}{$self->{count}{tokens}} || []}) {
        my ($keyword, $expandable) = @$lookup;

        my @grammar = @{$self->{data}->__grammar($keyword)};
        my $types_entry = shift @grammar;

        @grammar = $self->_expand($keyword, $types_entry, \@grammar) if $expandable;

        foreach my $entry (@grammar) {
            my ($types, $expression) = $expandable ? @$entry : ($types_entry, $entry);
            my $valid_expression = true;
            my $definition = $expression->[0];
            my @positions = sort {$a <=> $b} keys %$definition;
            my (%first_stack, %rest_stack);
            foreach my $pos (@positions) {
                if ($types->[$pos] eq 'SCALAR') {
                    if (defined $definition->{$pos}) {
                        if (${$self->_token($pos)} =~ /^$definition->{$pos}$/i) {
                            next;
                        }
                        else {
                            $valid_expression = false;
                            last;
                        }
                    }
                }
                elsif ($types->[$pos] eq 'REGEXP') {
                    if (my @captured = ${$self->_token($pos)} =~ $definition->{$pos}) {
                        $first_stack{$pos} = shift @captured;
                        $rest_stack{$pos} = [ @captured ];
                        next;
                    }
                    else {
                        $valid_expression = false;
                        last;
                    }
                }
                else {
                    die "grammar error at keyword \"$keyword\" within $self->{grammar_class}: ",
                        "unknown type $types->[$pos]\n";
                }
            }
            if ($valid_expression && @{$expression->[2]}) {
                my $i = 0;
                foreach my $check (@{$expression->[2]}) {
                    my @pos = @{$expression->[1][$i++]};
                    my $error;
                    $valid_expression &= $check->(\%first_stack, \%rest_stack, \@pos, \$error);
                    unless ($valid_expression) {
                        $self->_set_error("($error)");
                        last;
                    }
                }
            }
            if ($valid_expression) {
                $self->_set_valid_exp;
                my @truncate_to = @{$expression->[6]->{truncate_to} || []};
                my $i = 0;
                foreach my $positions (@{$expression->[3]}) {
                    my ($c, @values);
                    foreach my $pos (@$positions) {
                        my $index = ref $pos eq 'HASH' ? (keys %$pos)[0] : $pos;
                        $values[$c++] = ref $pos
                          ? $index eq 'VALUE'
                            ? $pos->{$index}
                            : $self->SUPER::_helper($pos->{$index}, $first_stack{$index})
                          : exists $first_stack{$index}
                            ? $first_stack{$index}
                            : ${$self->_token($index)};
                    }
                    my $worker = "SUPER::$expression->[5]->[$i]";
                    $self->$worker(@values, $expression->[4]->[$i++]);
                    $self->_truncate(shift @truncate_to);
                }
                %opts = %{$expression->[6]};
                $self->{keyword} = $keyword;
                last PARSE;
            }
        }
    }

    $self->_post_process(%opts);
}

sub _truncate
{
    my $self = shift;
    my ($truncate_to) = @_;

    return unless defined $truncate_to;

    my @truncate_to = map { $_ =~ /_/ ? split /_/, $_ : $_ } $truncate_to;
    my $i = 0;
    my @units = @{$self->{data}->__units('ordered')};
    my %indexes = map { $_ => $i++ } @units;
    foreach my $unit (@truncate_to) {
        my $index = $indexes{$unit} - 1;
        if (defined $units[$index] && !exists $self->{modified}{$units[$index]}) {
            $self->{datetime}->truncate(to => $unit);
            $self->_set_truncated;
            last;
        }
    }
}

sub _post_process
{
    my $self = shift;
    my %opts = @_;

    delete $opts{truncate_to};

    if (($self->{Prefer_future} || $self->{Demand_future})
        && (exists $opts{advance_future} && $opts{advance_future})
    ) {
        $self->_advance_future;
    }
}

sub _advance_future
{
    my $self = shift;
    my %advance = map { $_ => true } @_;

    my %modified = map { $_ => true } keys %{$self->{modified}};
    my $token_contains = sub
    {
        my ($identifier) = @_;
        return any {
          my $data = $_;
          any {
            my $token = $_;
            $token =~ /^$data$/i;
          } @{$self->{tokens}}
        } @{$self->{data}->{$identifier}};
    };

    my $now = exists $self->{Datetime}
      ? dclone($self->{Datetime})
      : DateTime::HiRes->now(time_zone => $self->{Time_zone});

    my $day_of_week = sub { $_[0]->_Day_of_Week(map $_[0]->{datetime}->$_, qw(year month day)) };

    my $skip_weekdays = false;

    if ((all { /^(?:(?:nano)?second|minute|hour)$/ } keys %modified)
        && (exists $self->{modified}{hour} && $self->{modified}{hour} == 1)
        && (($self->{Prefer_future} && $self->{datetime} <  $now)
         || ($self->{Demand_future} && $self->{datetime} <= $now))
    ) {
        $self->{postprocess}{day} = 1;
    }
    elsif (sub {
        return false unless @{$self->{tokens}} == 2;
        my ($day, $weekday) = map $self->{data}->__RE($_), qw(day weekday);
        if ($self->{tokens}->[0] =~ $day
         && $self->{tokens}->[1] =~ $weekday) {
            $skip_weekdays = true;
            return true;
        }
        return false;
    }->()
        && (all { /^(?:day|month|year)$/ } keys %modified)
        && (($self->{Prefer_future} && $self->{datetime}->day <  $now->day)
         || ($self->{Demand_future} && $self->{datetime}->day <= $now->day))
    ) {
        $self->{postprocess}{week} = 4;
    }
    elsif (($token_contains->('weekdays_all') && !$skip_weekdays)
        && (exists $self->{modified}{day} && $self->{modified}{day} == 1)
        && (($self->{Prefer_future} && $day_of_week->($self) <  $now->wday)
         || ($self->{Demand_future} && $day_of_week->($self) <= $now->wday))
    ) {
        $self->{postprocess}{day} = 7;
    }
    elsif (($token_contains->('months_all') || $advance{md})
        && (all { /^(?:day|month)$/ } keys %modified)
        && (exists $self->{modified}{month} && $self->{modified}{month} == 1)
        && (exists $self->{modified}{day}
              ? $self->{modified}{day} == 1
                ? true : false
              : true)
        && (($self->{Prefer_future} && $self->{datetime}->day_of_year <  $now->day_of_year)
         || ($self->{Demand_future} && $self->{datetime}->day_of_year <= $now->day_of_year))
    ) {
        $self->{postprocess}{year} = 1;
    }
}

sub _token
{
    my $self = shift;
    my ($pos) = @_;

    my $str = '';
    my $token = $self->{tokens}->[0 + $pos];

    return defined $token
      ? \$token
      : \$str;
}

sub _register_trace  { push @{$_[0]->{trace}}, (caller(1))[3] }
sub _unset_trace     { @{$_[0]->{trace}} = ()                 }

sub _get_error       { $_[0]->{error}         }
sub _set_error       { $_[0]->{error} = $_[1] }
sub _unset_error     { $_[0]->{error} = undef }

sub _get_failure     { $_[0]->{failure}         }
sub _set_failure     { $_[0]->{failure} = true  }
sub _unset_failure   { $_[0]->{failure} = false }

sub _get_valid_exp   { $_[0]->{valid_expression}         }
sub _set_valid_exp   { $_[0]->{valid_expression} = true  }
sub _unset_valid_exp { $_[0]->{valid_expression} = false }

sub _get_truncated   { $_[0]->{truncated}         }
sub _set_truncated   { $_[0]->{truncated} = true  }
sub _unset_truncated { $_[0]->{truncated} = false }

sub _get_datetime_object
{
    my $self = shift;

    my $dt = DateTime->new(
        time_zone  => $self->{datetime}->time_zone,
        year       => $self->{datetime}->year,
        month      => $self->{datetime}->month,
        day        => $self->{datetime}->day_of_month,
        hour       => $self->{datetime}->hour,
        minute     => $self->{datetime}->minute,
        second     => $self->{datetime}->second,
        nanosecond => $self->{datetime}->nanosecond,
    );

    foreach my $unit (keys %{$self->{postprocess}}) {
        $dt->add("${unit}s" => $self->{postprocess}{$unit});
    }

    return $dt;
}

# solely for testing purpose
sub _set_datetime
{
    my $self = shift;
    my ($time, $tz) = @_;

    $self->{datetime_test} = DateTime->new(
        time_zone => $tz || 'floating',
        %$time,
    );
    $self->{running_tests} = true;
}

1;
__END__

=encoding ISO8859-1

=head1 NAME

DateTime::Format::Natural - Parse informal natural language date/time strings

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 use DateTime::Format::Natural;

 $parser = DateTime::Format::Natural->new;

 $dt = $parser->parse_datetime($date_string);
 @dt = $parser->parse_datetime_duration($date_string);

 $date_string  = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);
 @date_strings = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);

 if ($parser->success) {
     # operate on $dt/@dt, for example:
     print $dt->strftime('%d.%m.%Y %H:%M:%S'), "\n";
 } else {
     warn $parser->error;
 }

 @traces = $parser->trace;

 # examples

 12:14 PM
 next tuesday at 2am
 tomorrow morning
 4pm yesterday
 10 weeks ago

 1st tuesday last november
 2nd friday in august
 final thursday in april

 for 3 hours
 monday to friday
 1 April 10 am to 1 May 8am

 jan 24, 2011 12:00

=head1 DESCRIPTION

C<DateTime::Format::Natural> parses informal natural language date/time strings.
In addition, parsable date/time substrings may be extracted from ordinary strings.

=head1 CONSTRUCTOR

=head2 new

Creates a new C<DateTime::Format::Natural> object. Arguments to C<new()> are options and
not necessarily required.

 $parser = DateTime::Format::Natural->new(
           datetime      => DateTime->new(...),
           lang          => 'en',
           format        => 'mm/dd/yy',
           prefer_future => [0|1],
           demand_future => [0|1],
           time_zone     => 'floating',
           daytime       => { morning   => 06,
                              afternoon => 13,
                              evening   => 20,
                            },
 );

=over 4

=item * C<datetime>

Overrides the present now with a L<DateTime> object provided.

=item * C<lang>

Contains the language selected, currently limited to C<en> (english).
Defaults to 'C<en>'.

=item * C<format>

Specifies the format of numeric dates.

The format is used to influence how numeric dates are parsed. Given two
numbers separated by a slash, the month/day order expected comes from
this option. If there is a third number, this option describes where
to expect the year. When this format can't be used to interpret the
date, some unambiguous dates may be parsed, but there is no form
guarantee.

Current supported "month/day" formats: C<dd/mm>, C<mm/dd>.

Current supported "year/month/day" formats (with slashes): C<dd/mm/yy>,
C<dd/mm/yyyy>, C<mm/dd/yyyy>, C<yyyy/mm/dd>.

Note that all of the above formats with three units do also parse
with dots or dashes as format separators.

Furthermore, formats can be abbreviated as long as they remain
unambiguous.

Defaults to 'C<d/m/y>'.

=item * C<prefer_future>

Prefers future time and dates. Accepts a boolean, defaults to false.

=item * C<demand_future>

Demands future time and dates. Similar to C<prefer_future>, but stronger.
Accepts a boolean, defaults to false.

=item * C<time_zone>

The time zone to use when parsing and for output. Accepts any time zone
recognized by L<DateTime>. Defaults to 'floating'.

=item * C<daytime>

A hash reference consisting of customized daytime hours,
which may be selectively changed.

=back

=head1 METHODS

=head2 parse_datetime

Returns a L<DateTime> object constructed from a natural language date/time string.

 $dt = $parser->parse_datetime($date_string);
 $dt = $parser->parse_datetime(string => $date_string);

=over 4

=item * C<string>

The date string.

=back

=head2 parse_datetime_duration

Returns one or two L<DateTime> objects constructed from a natural language
date/time string which may contain timespans/durations. I<Same> interface
and options as C<parse_datetime()>, but should be explicitly called in
list context.

 @dt = $parser->parse_datetime_duration($date_string);
 @dt = $parser->parse_datetime_duration(string => $date_string);

=head2 extract_datetime

Returns parsable date/time substrings (also known as expressions) extracted
from the string provided; in scalar context only the first parsable substring
is returned, whereas in list context all parsable substrings are returned.
Each extracted substring can then be passed to the C<parse_datetime()>/
C<parse_datetime_duration()> methods.

 $date_string  = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);
 @date_strings = $parser->extract_datetime($extract_string);
 # or
 $date_string  = $parser->extract_datetime(string => $extract_string);
 @date_strings = $parser->extract_datetime(string => $extract_string);

=head2 success

Returns a boolean indicating success or failure for parsing the date/time
string given.

=head2 error

Returns the error message if the parsing did not succeed.

=head2 trace

Returns one or two strings with the grammar keyword for the valid
expression parsed, traces of methods which were called within the Calc
class and a summary how often certain units have been modified. More than
one string is commonly returned for durations. Useful as a debugging aid.

=head1 GRAMMAR

The grammar handling has been rewritten to be easily extendable and hence
everybody is encouraged to propose sensible new additions and/or changes.

See the class L<DateTime::Format::Natural::Lang::EN> if you're intending
to hack a bit on the grammar guts.

=head1 EXAMPLES

See the class L<DateTime::Format::Natural::Lang::EN> for an overview of
currently valid input.

=head1 BUGS & CAVEATS

C<parse_datetime()>/C<parse_datetime_duration()> always return one or two
DateTime objects regardless whether the parse was successful or not. In
case no valid expression was found or a failure occurred, an unaltered
DateTime object with its initial values (most often the "current" now) is
likely to be returned. It is therefore recommended to use C<success()> to
assert that the parse did succeed (at least, for common uses), otherwise
the absence of a parse failure cannot be guaranteed.

C<parse_datetime()> is not capable of handling durations.

=head1 CREDITS

Thanks to Tatsuhiko Miyagawa for the initial inspiration. See Miyagawa's journal
entry L<http://use.perl.org/~miyagawa/journal/31378> for more information.

Furthermore, thanks to (in order of appearance) who have contributed
valuable suggestions and patches:

 Clayton L. Scott
 Dave Rolsky
 CPAN Author 'SEKIMURA'
 mike (pulsation)
 Mark Stosberg
 Tuomas Jormola
 Cory Watson
 Urs Stotz
 Shawn M. Moore
 Andreas J. König
 Chia-liang Kao
 Jonny Schulz
 Jesse Vincent
 Jason May
 Pat Kale
 Ankur Gupta
 Alex Bowley
 Elliot Shank
 Anirvan Chatterjee
 Michael Reddick
 Christian Brink
 Giovanni Pensa
 Andrew Sterling Hanenkamp
 Eric Wilhelm
 Kevin Field
 Wes Morgan
 Vladimir Marek
 Rod Taylor
 Tim Esselens
 Colm Dougan
 Chifung Fan
 Xiao Yafeng
 Roman Filippov
 David Steinbrunner
 Debian Perl Group
 Tim Bunce
 Ricardo Signes
 Felix Ostmann
 Jörn Clausen
 Jim Avera
 Olaf Alders
 Karen Etheridge

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<dateparse>, L<DateTime>, L<Date::Calc>, L<http://datetime.perl.org>

=head1 AUTHOR

Steven Schubiger <[e-mail]>

=head1 LICENSE

This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or
modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

See L<http://dev.perl.org/licenses/>

=cut