eScript Date Parser Bug

The Siebel eScript date parser does not correctly recognize dates in the 12AM hour in the format HH:MM:SS AM. This is a bug in some versions of the eScript engine, affecting server scripts, but not browser scripts - since browser scripts use the web browser's javascript engine. Check out the example below.

Siebel eScript (7.7.2.6 SIA [18372]):

// incorrectly evaluates to noon
// "Sat Oct 18 12:00:00 2008"
new Date ('10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM").toString ();

JavaScript engine from IE 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254:

// correctly evaluates to midnight
// "Sat Oct 18 00:00:00 PDT 2008 12:00:00 AM"
new Date ('10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM").toString ();

We just got a quickfix from Oracle for this nasty little bug we found, but the fix is on our private branch. So if this is affecting you, you might want to request it too. It took a few months between logging the SR and getting the patch delivered, so we had to work around the problem manually. We created a function to turn a string into a date object. In case you need it, here it is:

function StringToDate (sDateString)
{ // takes a date string, parses it using the
  // escript date parser, and returns it as a
  // date object. also works around a known
  // defect with the escript date parser
  // (siebel sr 3-765130491)

  var dt = new Date (sDateString);

  // address siebel product defect where
  // 12:XX AM dates get translated to 12:XX PM
  // in the date constructor
  if (/^[^:]*12(:\d{1,2}){0,2}\s*[Aa][Mm]/.test (sDateString))
  {
    // the time appears to be 12:XX AM,
    // so verify it
    if (dt.getHours () == 12)
    {
      // the hours are off, so fix it
      dt.setHours (0);
    }
  }

  return (dt);
}

I wonder if this problem occurs with date formats from other locales... In case you didn't know, I'm in the US.