#635: Make inflation of dates optional

Readme.md

@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ issue [#501](https://github.com/felixge/node-mysql/issues/501). (Default: `'fals
   objects only when they cannot be accurately represented with [JavaScript Number objects] (http://ecma262-5.com/ELS5_HTML.htm#Section_8.5)
   (which happens when they exceed the [-2^53, +2^53] range), otherwise they will be returned as
   Number objects. This option is ignored if `supportBigNumbers` is disabled.
+* `dateStrings`: Force date types (TIMESTAMP, DATETIME, DATE) to be returned as strings rather then
+   inflated into JavaScript Date objects. (Default: `false`)
 * `debug`: Prints protocol details to stdout. (Default: `false`)
 * `multipleStatements`: Allow multiple mysql statements per query. Be careful
   with this, it exposes you to SQL injection attacks. (Default: `false`)

lib/ConnectionConfig.js

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ function ConnectionConfig(options) {
   this.insecureAuth       = options.insecureAuth || false;
   this.supportBigNumbers  = options.supportBigNumbers || false;
   this.bigNumberStrings   = options.bigNumberStrings || false;
+  this.dateStrings        = options.dateStrings || false;
   this.debug              = options.debug;
   this.stringifyObjects   = options.stringifyObjects || false;
   this.timezone           = options.timezone || 'local';

lib/protocol/packets/RowDataPacket.js

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ function RowDataPacket() {
 RowDataPacket.prototype.parse = function(parser, fieldPackets, typeCast, nestTables, connection) {
   var self = this;
   var next = function () {
-    return self._typeCast(fieldPacket, parser, connection.config.timezone, connection.config.supportBigNumbers, connection.config.bigNumberStrings);
+    return self._typeCast(fieldPacket, parser, connection.config.timezone, connection.config.supportBigNumbers, connection.config.bigNumberStrings, connection.config.dateStrings);
   };
 
   for (var i = 0; i < fieldPackets.length; i++) {
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ RowDataPacket.prototype.parse = function(parser, fieldPackets, typeCast, nestTab
       value = typeCast.apply(connection, [ new Field({ packet: fieldPacket, parser: parser }), next ]);
     } else {
       value = (typeCast)
-        ? this._typeCast(fieldPacket, parser, connection.config.timezone, connection.config.supportBigNumbers, connection.config.bigNumberStrings)
+        ? this._typeCast(fieldPacket, parser, connection.config.timezone, connection.config.supportBigNumbers, connection.config.bigNumberStrings, connection.config.dateStrings)
         : ( (fieldPacket.charsetNr === Charsets.BINARY)
           ? parser.parseLengthCodedBuffer()
           : parser.parseLengthCodedString() );
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ RowDataPacket.prototype.parse = function(parser, fieldPackets, typeCast, nestTab
   }
 };
 
-RowDataPacket.prototype._typeCast = function(field, parser, timeZone, supportBigNumbers, bigNumberStrings) {
+RowDataPacket.prototype._typeCast = function(field, parser, timeZone, supportBigNumbers, bigNumberStrings, dateStrings) {
   var numberString;
 
   switch (field.type) {
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ RowDataPacket.prototype._typeCast = function(field, parser, timeZone, supportBig
     case Types.DATETIME:
     case Types.NEWDATE:
       var dateString = parser.parseLengthCodedString();
+      if (dateStrings) {
+          return dateString;
+      }
       var dt;
 
       if (dateString === null) {