PHP 5 Date/TimeFunctions
PHP Date/Time Introduction
The Date/Time functions allow you to obtain the date and time from the server where your PHP script runs. You can use the Date/Time functions to format dates and times in different ways.
Note:These functions depend on the local settings of the server. When using these functions, remember to consider daylight saving time and leap years.
Installation
PHP Date/Time functions are part of the PHP core. No installation is required to use these functions.
Runtime Configuration
The behavior of the Date/Time functions is affected by settings in php.ini:
| Name | Description | Default | PHP Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| date.timezone | Specifies the default timezone (used by all Date/Time functions) | "" | PHP 5.1 |
| date.default_latitude | Specifies the default latitude (used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset()) | "31.7667" | PHP 5.0 |
| date.default_longitude | Specifies the default longitude (used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset()) | "35.2333" | PHP 5.0 |
| date.sunrise_zenith | Specifies the default sunrise zenith (used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset()) | "90.83" | PHP 5.0 |
| date.sunset_zenith | Specifies the default sunset zenith (used by date_sunrise() and date_sunset()) | "90.83" | PHP 5.0 |
PHP 5 Date/Time Functions
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| checkdate() | Validates a Gregorian date. |
| date_add() | Adds days, months, years, hours, minutes and seconds to a date. |
| date_create_from_format() | Returns a new DateTime object formatted according to the specified format. |
| date_create() | Returns a new DateTime object. |
| date_date_set() | Sets a new date. |
| date_default_timezone_get() | Returns the default timezone used by all Date/Time functions. |
| date_default_timezone_set() | Sets the default timezone used by all Date/Time functions. |
| date_diff() | Returns the difference between two dates. |
| date_format() | Returns a date formatted according to the specified format. |
| date_get_last_errors() | Returns warnings/errors in a date string. |
| date_interval_create_from_date_string() | Creates a DateInterval from the relative parts of a string. |
| date_interval_format() | Formats a time interval. |
| date_isodate_set() | Sets an ISO date. |
| date_modify() | Modifies a timestamp. |
| date_offset_get() | Returns the timezone offset. |
| date_parse_from_format() | Returns an associative array with detailed information about a specified date, according to the specified format. |
| date_parse() | Returns an associative array with detailed information about a specified date. |
| date_sub() | Subtracts days, months, years, hours, minutes and seconds from a specified date. |
| date_sun_info() | Returns an array containing information about sunrise/sunset and twilight begin/end for a specified date and location. |
| date_sunrise() | Returns the sunrise time for a specified date and location. |
| date_sunset() | Returns the sunset time for a specified date and location. |
| date_time_set() | Sets the time. |
| date_timestamp_get() | Returns the Unix timestamp. |
| date_timestamp_set() | Sets the date and time based on a Unix timestamp. |
| date_timezone_get() | Returns the timezone of the given DateTime object. |
| date_timezone_set() | Sets the timezone of a DateTime object. |
| date() | Formats a local date and time. |
| getdate() | Returns date/time information for a timestamp or the current local date/time. |
| gettimeofday() | Returns the current time. |
| gmdate() | Formats a GMT/UTC date and time. |
| gmmktime() | Returns a Unix timestamp for a GMT date. |
| gmstrftime() | Formats a GMT/UTC date and time according to locale settings. |
| idate() | Formats a local time/date as an integer. |
| localtime() | Returns the local time. |
| microtime() | Returns the microseconds of the current Unix timestamp. |
| mktime() | Returns the Unix timestamp for a date. |
| strftime() | Formats a local time/date according to locale settings. |
| strptime() | Parses a time/date generated by strftime(). |
| strtotime() | Parses any English textual date or time description into a Unix timestamp. |
| time() | Returns the current time as a Unix timestamp. |
| timezone_abbreviations_list() | Returns an associative array containing daylight saving time, offset, and timezone name. |
| timezone_identifiers_list() | Returns a numeric array containing all timezone identifiers. |
| timezone_location_get() | Returns location information for a specified timezone. |
| timezone_name_from_ abbr() | Returns the timezone name from a timezone abbreviation. |
| timezone_name_get() | Returns the name of the timezone. |
| timezone_offset_get() | Returns the timezone offset relative to GMT. |
| timezone_open() | Creates a new DateTimeZone object. |
| timezone_transitions_get() | Returns all transitions for a timezone. |
| timezone_version_get() | Returns the version of the timezone database. |
PHP 5 Predefined Date/Time Constants
| Constant | Description |
|---|---|
| DATE_ATOM | Atom (e.g., 2005-08-15T16:13:03+0000) |
| DATE_COOKIE | HTTP Cookies (e.g., Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) |
| DATE_ISO8601 | ISO-8601 (e.g., 2005-08-14T16:13:03+0000) |
| DATE_RFC822 | RFC 822 (e.g., Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) |
| DATE_RFC850 | RFC 850 (e.g., Sunday, 14-Aug-05 16:13:03 UTC) |
| DATE_RFC1036 | RFC 1036 (e.g., Sunday, 14-Aug-05 16:13:03 UTC) |
| DATE_RFC1123 | RFC 1123 (e.g., Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) |
| DATE_RFC2822 | RFC 2822 (e.g., Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 +0000) |
| DATE_RSS | RSS (e.g., Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:13:03 UTC) |
| DATE_W3C | W3C (e.g., 2005-08-14T16:13:03+0000) |