How to print and use the current date?

Projects Programming
1

Hey, i need to print the date it is and calculate the season in order to use a irrigation solenoid valve.
Is there any library that could give the date, and with i could get the season so i can code the necessary instructions to make the valve works?

thanks arduiners!!!!

2

You can get the date using a Real Time Clock (RTC), a GPS receiver or the Web. Of those the RTC is probably the easiest. Once you have the date it should not be difficult to determine the season if you can describe the start and end of each season

If you do not mind the date/time drifting over a period then you could use the Time library without an external device and set the date/time manually or by setting it to the compile time as long as the Arduino stays powered once it is set

3

You need a real time clock (RTC) like the DS3231 for that.

4

Season = (month + 15) % 4

5

Well, I was just trying to get the ball rolling... :slight_smile:

int season;
char *seasons[] = {"winter", "spring", "summer", "fall"};

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  for (int month = 1; month <= 12; month++)
  {
    Serial.print(month);
    Serial.print(" ");
    season = ((month + 3) / 3 - 1) % 4;
    Serial.println( seasons[season]);
  }
}

void loop() {
}

1 winter
2 winter
3 spring
4 spring
5 spring
6 summer
7 summer
8 summer
9 fall
10 fall
11 fall
12 winter
6

You didn't define what makes a season...

If it can be defined by month, then I fell this is an excellent case for a switch-statement. Switch is easy to understand and gives you freedom to map any month to any season - for example to make winter 4 months long if you need to.
Uses the fallthrough feature of the switch statement.

    #include <CurieTime.h>
        ...

    const int WINTER = 1;
    const int SPRING = 2;
    const int SUMMER = 3;
    const int FALL = 4;
    const int ERROR = -999;
    
    int season;
    int mon;
    
    mon=month();  //from RTC
 
    switch( mon) {
      case 12:
      case 1:
      case 2:
      case 3:
        season=WINTER;
      break;
      
      case 4:
      case 5:
        season=SPRING;
      break;
      
      case 6:
      case 7:
      case 8:
        season=SUMMER;
      break;
      
      case 9:
      case 10:
      case 11:
        season=FALL;
      break;
      
      default:
        // something went wrong, add error handling here
        season=-999;
      break;
    }
    
    //do what ever needs to do on current season    
    doSeason(season);
7

hannut:
You didn't define what makes a season...

Sorry, it is the official meteorological seasons. I figure that's good for an irrigation app. Obviously there are many ways to enhance this program, and many ways to achieve them.

8

A season may be from early spring to late fall, so it may not relate to calendrical seasons at all. In the end it's about getting the correct date - none of the posted code does that.

9

"You didn't define what makes a season..."

Sorry,with "you" I ment FcHoc, who started this topic :slight_smile:

10

The Time library has good date/time functions that you can use to print the date, if you don't want to code it yourself.

11

Thank all of you, i appreciate each info u gave me. Solved it.

12

Good to hear you solved the problem.

I'm also interested to hear the solution.