exports.ISO8601_FORMAT = "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss.SSS";
exports.ISO8601_WITH_TZ_OFFSET_FORMAT = "yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ssO";
exports.DATETIME_FORMAT = "dd MM yyyy hh:mm:ss.SSS";
exports.ABSOLUTETIME_FORMAT = "hh:mm:ss.SSS";

exports.asString = function(/*format,*/ date) {
    var format = exports.ISO8601_FORMAT;
    if (typeof(date) === "string") {
        format = arguments[0];
        date = arguments[1];
    }

    var vDay = addZero(date.getDate());
    var vMonth = addZero(date.getMonth()+1);
    var vYearLong = addZero(date.getFullYear());
    var vYearShort = addZero(date.getFullYear().toString().substring(3,4));
    var vYear = (format.indexOf("yyyy") > -1 ? vYearLong : vYearShort);
    var vHour  = addZero(date.getHours());
    var vMinute = addZero(date.getMinutes());
    var vSecond = addZero(date.getSeconds());
    var vMillisecond = padWithZeros(date.getMilliseconds(), 3);
    var vTimeZone = offset(date);
    var formatted = format
                      .replace(/dd/g, vDay)
                      .replace(/MM/g, vMonth)
                      .replace(/y{1,4}/g, vYear)
                      .replace(/hh/g, vHour)
                      .replace(/mm/g, vMinute)
                      .replace(/ss/g, vSecond)
                      .replace(/SSS/g, vMillisecond)
                      .replace(/O/g, vTimeZone);
    return formatted;

    function padWithZeros(vNumber, width) {
	var numAsString = vNumber + "";
	while (numAsString.length < width) {
	    numAsString = "0" + numAsString;
	}
	return numAsString;
    }

    function addZero(vNumber) {
	return padWithZeros(vNumber, 2);
    }

    /**
     * Formats the TimeOffest
     * Thanks to http://www.svendtofte.com/code/date_format/
     * @private
     */
    function offset(date) {
	// Difference to Greenwich time (GMT) in hours
	var os = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset());
	var h = String(Math.floor(os/60));
	var m = String(os%60);
	h.length == 1? h = "0"+h:1;
	m.length == 1? m = "0"+m:1;
	return date.getTimezoneOffset() < 0 ? "+"+h+m : "-"+h+m;
    }
};