NSDate class method to get an NSDate from an internet date time string (RFC822 or RFC3339)

gistfile1.m

// Return date for internet date string (RFC822 or RFC3339)
// - RFC822  http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc822.txt
// - RFC3339 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3339.txt
// - Good QA on internet dates: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/qa/qa2010/qa1480.html
// - Cocoa date formatting: http://unicode.org/reports/tr35/tr35-6.html#Date_Format_Patterns
+ (NSDate *)dateFromInternetDateTimeString:(NSString *)dateString {
	
	// Setup Date & Formatter
	NSDate *date = nil;
	static NSDateFormatter *formatter = nil;
	if (!formatter) {
		NSLocale *en_US_POSIX = [[NSLocale alloc] initWithLocaleIdentifier:@"en_US_POSIX"];
		formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
		[formatter setLocale:en_US_POSIX];
		[formatter setTimeZone:[NSTimeZone timeZoneForSecondsFromGMT:0]];
		[en_US_POSIX release];
	}
	
	/*
	 *  RFC3339
	 */
	
	NSString *RFC3339String = [[NSString stringWithString:dateString] uppercaseString];
	RFC3339String = [RFC3339String stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@"Z" withString:@"-0000"];
	
	// Remove colon in timezone as iOS 4+ NSDateFormatter breaks
	// See https://devforums.apple.com/thread/45837
	if (RFC3339String.length > 20) {
		RFC3339String = [RFC3339String stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@":" 
																 withString:@"" 
																	options:0
																	  range:NSMakeRange(20, RFC3339String.length-20)];
	}
	
	if (!date) { // 1996-12-19T16:39:57-0800
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ssZZZ"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC3339String];
	}
	if (!date) { // 1937-01-01T12:00:27.87+0020
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss.SSSZZZ"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC3339String];
	}
	if (!date) { // 1937-01-01T12:00:27
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC3339String];
	}
	if (date) return date;
	
	/*
	 *  RFC822
	 */
	
	NSString *RFC822String = [[NSString stringWithString:dateString] uppercaseString];
	if (!date) { // Sun, 19 May 02 15:21:36 GMT
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"EEE, d MMM yy HH:mm:ss zzz"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (!date) { // Sun, 19 May 2002 15:21:36 GMT
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"EEE, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss zzz"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (!date) {  // Sun, 19 May 2002 15:21 GMT
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"EEE, d MMM yyyy HH:mm zzz"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (!date) {  // 19 May 2002 15:21:36 GMT
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss zzz"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (!date) {  // 19 May 2002 15:21 GMT
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"d MMM yyyy HH:mm zzz"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (!date) {  // 19 May 2002 15:21:36
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (!date) {  // 19 May 2002 15:21
		[formatter setDateFormat:@"d MMM yyyy HH:mm"]; 
		date = [formatter dateFromString:RFC822String];
	}
	if (date) return date;
	
	// Failed
	return nil;
	
}