--- /dev/null
+package Koha::DateUtils;
+
+# Copyright (c) 2011 PTFS-Europe Ltd.
+# This file is part of Koha.
+#
+# Koha is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+# terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+# Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+# version.
+#
+# Koha is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+# WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
+# A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+# Koha; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place,
+# Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use 5.010;
+use DateTime;
+use DateTime::Format::DateParse;
+use C4::Context;
+
+use base 'Exporter';
+use version; our $VERSION = qv('1.0.0');
+
+our @EXPORT = (qw( dt_from_string ));
+
+=head1 DateUtils
+
+Koha::DateUtils - Transitional wrappers to ease use of DateTime
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+Koha has historically only used dates not datetimes and been content to
+handle these as strings. It also has confused formatting with actual dates
+this is a temporary module for wrappers to hide the complexity of switch to DateTime
+
+=cut
+
+=head2 dt_ftom_string
+
+$dt = dt_from_string($date_string, [$format, $timezone ]);
+
+Passed a date string returns a DateTime object format and timezone default
+to the system preferences. If the date string is empty DateTime->now is returned
+
+=cut
+
+sub dt_from_string {
+ my ( $date_string, $date_format, $tz ) = @_;
+ if ( !$tz ) {
+ $tz = C4::Context->tz;
+ }
+ if ( !$date_format ) {
+ $date_format = C4::Context->preference('dateformat');
+ }
+ if ($date_string) {
+ if ( ref($date_string) eq 'DateTime' ) { # already a dt return it
+ return $date_string;
+ }
+
+ if ( $date_format eq 'metric' ) {
+ $date_string =~ s#-#/#g;
+ $date_string =~ s/^00/01/; # system allows the 0th of the month
+ $date_string =~ s#^(\d{1,2})/(\d{1,2})#$2/$1#;
+ } else {
+ if ( $date_format eq 'iso' ) {
+ $date_string =~ s/-00/-01/;
+ } elsif ( $date_format eq 'us' ) {
+ $date_string =~ s[-00-][-01-];
+ } elsif ( $date_format eq 'sql' ) {
+ $date_string =~
+s/(\d{4})(\d{2})(\d{2})\s+(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2})/$1-$2-$3T$4:$5:$6/;
+ $date_string =~ s/00T/01T/;
+ }
+ }
+ return DateTime::Format::DateParse->parse_datetime( $date_string, $tz );
+ }
+ return DateTime->now( time_zone => $tz );
+
+}
+1;
--- /dev/null
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use 5.010;
+use DateTime;
+
+use Test::More tests => 8; # last test to print
+
+use_ok('Koha::DateUtils');
+
+my $dt_metric = dt_from_string('01/02/2010', 'metric', 'Europe/London');
+isa_ok $dt_metric, 'DateTime', 'metric returns a DateTime object';
+cmp_ok $dt_metric->ymd(), 'eq', '2010-02-01', 'metric date correct';
+
+my $dt_us = dt_from_string('02/01/2010', 'us', 'Europe/London');
+isa_ok $dt_us, 'DateTime', 'us returns a DateTime object';
+cmp_ok $dt_us->ymd(), 'eq', '2010-02-01', 'us date correct';
+
+my $dt_iso = dt_from_string('2010-02-01', 'iso', 'Europe/London');
+isa_ok $dt_iso, 'DateTime', 'iso returns a DateTime object';
+cmp_ok $dt_iso->ymd(), 'eq', '2010-02-01', 'iso date correct';
+
+
+
+my $dt = dt_from_string( undef );
+
+isa_ok $dt, 'DateTime', 'No string returns a DateTime object';