I am analyzing timestamped YouTube ments. Because some ments may refer to a period in either mm:ss, m:ss, hh:mm:ss, or h:mm:ss, I need to prepare for these cases. The following code works on mm:ss and m:ss, but still treats the one with hours as if it was mm:ss. For example, 02:24:30 returns 144, as it is only analyzing the first two parts. Here is the code:

var timePattern = /(([0-5][0-9])|[0-9])\:[0-9]{2,2}/;
var seconds = "";

for (var i = 0; i < ments.length; i++) {
    var matches = ments[i].match(timePattern);
    var matched = matches[0];
    var a = matched.split(':');
    if(matched.length == 7 || matched.length == 8) {
        seconds = (+a[0])*60*60 + (+a[1])*60 + a[2];        
    } else {
        seconds = (+a[0])*60 + (+a[1]); 
    }
    times.push(seconds);
}   

I am analyzing timestamped YouTube ments. Because some ments may refer to a period in either mm:ss, m:ss, hh:mm:ss, or h:mm:ss, I need to prepare for these cases. The following code works on mm:ss and m:ss, but still treats the one with hours as if it was mm:ss. For example, 02:24:30 returns 144, as it is only analyzing the first two parts. Here is the code:

var timePattern = /(([0-5][0-9])|[0-9])\:[0-9]{2,2}/;
var seconds = "";

for (var i = 0; i < ments.length; i++) {
    var matches = ments[i].match(timePattern);
    var matched = matches[0];
    var a = matched.split(':');
    if(matched.length == 7 || matched.length == 8) {
        seconds = (+a[0])*60*60 + (+a[1])*60 + a[2];        
    } else {
        seconds = (+a[0])*60 + (+a[1]); 
    }
    times.push(seconds);
}   

• javascript
• regex
• youtube-api

• Have a look at the YouTube API. Read more write less. – noob Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 22:36
• 2 Well I'm using the YouTube API for plenty of things with this particular project, but I don't think there's anything there that will get me ments with time references in them (ex. "LOL 3:04!!!") and certainly not anything that will break that reference into seconds for me. – Mark Lyons Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 22:39
• 1 Actually, this is possible, look at the entry elements: developers.google./youtube/2.0/… – Ricardo Souza Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 22:45
• 2 Yes, you can get ments. You just can't retrieve the video time references in those ments with the API. – Mark Lyons Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 22:47

2 Answers 2

Try a different regex.

(?:([0-5]?[0-9]):)?([0-5]?[0-9]):([0-5][0-9])

First contains hours, second contains minutes, last contains seconds.

Hours will be empty if no hours are found.

You can also get this info on the ments feed, if you're using the API: https://developers.google./youtube/2.0/developers_guide_protocol#Comments

The ments feed have a published element that contains the date and time information that you can use to parse the seconds of.