random date

# generates a random date
# you can simply call it like random_date to generate a simple random date
# otherwise you can pass hash values to generate like
#       random_date :year => your_year, :month => range_of_month, 
#                   :day => range_of_days, :format => format_string (same as Date#strftime)
#                   :return_date => true/false (will return a date object if true)
def random_date(options={})
  options[:year] ||= Time.now.year
  options[:month] ||= rand(12)
  options[:day] ||= rand(31)
  options[:format] ||= "%Y-%m-%d"
  options[:return_date] ||= false
 
  str = "#{options[:year]}-#{options[:month]}-#{options[:day]}".to_date.strftime options[:format]
  date = "#{options[:year]}-#{options[:month]}-#{options[:day]}".to_date
 
  options[:return_date] ? date : str
# if the date is invalid let's re-try we'll probably get a valid date the next time around
# we're passing format because the format needs to stay consistent  
rescue ArgumentError
  random_date :format => options[:format]
end