checkinf if date is real using php - php

Question

I'm trying to check if a date is real, it must return true, and if not, it must return false.
It does not seemes to work when I write 35-02-2012 (Date format dd-mm-yy) it return true, but I was expecting false, I do not know where I'm wrong.
below is my function
function isItRealDate($date) {
if ($date == '') {
return false;
} else {
$rxDatePattern = '/^(\d{1,2})(\/|-)(\d{1,2})(\/|-)(\d{4})$/'; //Declare Regex
$dtArray = preg_match($rxDatePattern, $date); // is format OK?
if ($dtArray == '0') {
return false;
} else {
$tableau_date = explode('-', $date);
//Checks for dd-mm-yyyy format.
$dtMonth = $tableau_date[1];
$dtDay = $tableau_date[0];
$dtYear = $tableau_date[2];
if ($dtMonth < 1 || $dtMonth > 12) {
return false;
} elseif ($dtDay < 1 || $dtDay > 31) {
return false;
} elseif (($dtMonth == 4 || $dtMonth == 6 || $dtMonth == 9 || $dtMonth == 11) && $dtDay == 31) {
return false;
} elseif ($dtMonth == 2) {
$isleap = ($dtYear % 4 == 0 && ($dtYear % 100 != 0 || $dtYear % 400 == 0));
if ($dtDay > 29 || ($dtDay == 29 && !$isleap)) {
return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
}
}
}
anykind of help will be much appreciated

Answer 1

If you want something that just works, use checkdate().

Answer 2

As suggested by Ibrahim, use:
function isItRealDate($date) {
if(preg_match("#^(\d{1,2})\-(\d{1,2})\-(\d{1,4})$#", $date, $match)){
//regex could match 99-99-9999 - checkdate will take care.
return checkdate($match[2], $match[1], $match[3]);
}
return false;
}
This will work for ANY (valid) date between 1-1-1 and 31-12-9999