Format Unix Timestamp with Timezone? - php

Lets say I've got my Unix Timestamp of 1373623247. Now I understand that the timestamps are just seconds since X. The issue I have is the formatting of it.
The server I use is hosted in Germany, however I am in the UK so the output is 12-07-13 12:01:01, when actually its only 11:01:01 here.
The code I am using is as below:
$date = 1373623247;
echo date("j-m-y h:i:s",$date);
What I did was use date_create and timezone as follows:
$date1 = date("j-m-y h:i:s",$date);
$dateobj = date_create("$date1", timezone_open('Europe/London'));
echo date_format($dateobj,"j-m-y h:i:s") . "\n";
The issue I now have is that it's actually adjusted the date to tomorrow, and hasn't altered the time!

You do not need to involve date at all:
$date = 1373623247;
$dateobj = date_create_from_format("U", $date);
date_timezone_set($dateobj, timezone_open('Europe/London'));
echo date_format($dateobj,"j-m-y h:i:s") . "\n";
This code converts the timestamp directly to a DateTime instance using the U format specifier. It's both shorter and cleaner to not work with date, as you don't need to worry about the server's default timezone at all.
Pro tip: date and strtotime get much coverage, and in certain cases are very convenient, but DateTime can do everything on its own and IMHO results in code that is much more maintainable.

Related

Setting PHP DateTime doesn't appear to be observing TimeZones

I'm fairly new to PHP so forgive me if this is a stupid mistake that I haven't spotted
I've run into a problem where in our current system where we currently used strtotime and it was returning our date an hour ahead than it actually was set. E.g 1:15pm became 2:15pm when I set the timezone to be European rather than GMT.
I read that strotime had this problem but I can't get it to observe a different timezone if I try and set it.
So I tried working with PHPs DateTime instead.
The user enters the time and they select it as 1:15PM however we want to store it as 13:15. So I did this:
$t = DateTime::createFromFormat('h:i A', $venue['startTime']);
$t_24 = $t->format('H:i:s');
Then I try and create my Date object
$d = DateTime::createFromFormat('d-m-Y H:i:s', $venue['startDay'] . ' ' . $t_24);
$d->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('America/New_York'));
echo ' ' . $d->getTimestamp();
Trying to set the timezone after the object is set because apparently it doesn't work if you add the timezone as the third argument in createFromFormat
My computers time is currently observing European time currently GMT+1 because we're observing daylight savings time in the UK, I select the time set on the through our system as 1:15pm and because I've set the timezone I expect the timestamp outputted equivalent to 7:15am as it's six hours behind European time, however when I convert the timestamp 1500639300 it's still equal to 2:15 PM. Probably done something stupid but can't quite figure out what? Any help would be appreciated :)
Timestamps have no time zone - they are always in UTC time. If you want to save timezone related data use another format! For example save in H:i:s, as you need it.
you can use gmdate() Function for this
<?php $current_time = gmdate('Y-m-d H:i:s'); ?>
http://php.net/manual/en/function.gmdate.php

Why is the difference between timestamp unix time and time() incorrect?

I'm trying do execute a php script with cron after 4 hours after saving an record in database. My problem here is not with cron, all here works fine(I'm sure of this because I'm receiving test mails from daemon cron every 4 hours as it should).
The problem is when I calculate the difference between the timestamp, converted to unix, and the current time and then execute some script.
But the diff bewtween these two times are adding 3 hours more to them and I don't know why but my script executes after 7 hours, instead of 4 hours. Can anyone help me please?
My code looks like this:
<?php
require_once('some-path/wp-load.php');
global $wpdb;
$constant= 4*3600;
$table = 'notifications';
$data = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT * FROM $table WHERE status = 'pending'");
$time = time();
foreach ($data as $r){
$temp_data = strtotime($r->date_created);
if ($time - $temp_data > $constant){
$email = $r->email;
$message = 'test';
$subject = 'test';
$headers = 'From: test <test#test.com>' . "\r\n";
$headers .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=utf-8' . "\r\n";
$mail_client = wp_mail($email, $subject, $message, $headers);
if($mail_client){
$wpdb->update($tabel, array('status' => 'sent'), array('id_raport'=>$r->id_raport), array('%s'), array('%d'));
}
}
}
Example of date from database Using strtotime(): 1458814621, Directly from database "2016-03-24 10:17:01"
Now, I know I can do something like this to get the real localtime:
date_default_timezone_set('Europe/Bucharest');
$date = date('m/d/Y h:i:s a', time());
$time = strtotime($date);
Update.
But this returns the same thing as the time() method.
Now, I know I can do something like this to get the real localtime:
date_default_timezone_set('Europe/Bucharest');
$date = date('m/d/Y h:i:s a', time());
$time = strtotime($date);
A UNIX timestamp is not "local". A UNIX timestamp is the same all over the world. What you're doing in this code is merely converting a timestamp (time()) to a human readable format, and then reinterpreting it into a timestamp; the result is identical to the original time() value (or at least it should be!).
A human readable date/time format, such as you receive from MySQL (2016-03-24 10:17:01) is incomplete without a timezone. There are more than 24 different absolute points in time at which it is "2016-03-24 10:17:01" somewhere in the world. That timestamp by itself doesn't mean very much.
When you convert it into a UNIX timestamp using strtotime, it must take in additional information to convert such an ambiguous relative time format into an absolute point in time. That information comes from date_default_timezone_set, or whatever is set equivalently in your php.ini.
Your problem almost certainly just boils down to the timezone PHP assumes when doing strtotime not being the same timezone as what your MySQL datetime string is actually for. E.g., if your MySQL datetime expresses the time for UTC, but strtotime assumes Bucharest as the timezone to use, you'll see a difference of a few hours in the resulting absolute point in time.
Simply set/use the correct timezone in your PHP code; think about/be aware/decide on what timezone your MySQL dates are actually stored in.
Also see Does PHP time() return a GMT/UTC Timestamp?
The value returned by time() (a timestamp) is the number of seconds since Jan 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. It is an absolute value.
The value you retrieve from the database (2016-03-24 10:17:01) is a relative value. It can represent different timestamps, depending on what time zone you use.
How to use the DateTime and DateTimeZone classes:
// Timestamp generated from PHP code
// Current time
$date1 = new DateTime(); // it uses the default timezone set in php.ini
// or by a previous call to date_default_timezone_set()
// be more specific
$date2 = new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('US/Eastern'));
// $date1 and $date2 represent the same moment in time ("now")
echo(($date1 == $date2) ? 'Yes' : 'No'); // It displays "Yes"
// Display them as timestamps
echo($date1->format('U')); // 1458816551
echo($date2->format('U')); // also 1458816551
// Display $date1 as human-readable format:
echo($date1->format('Y-m-d H:i:s e'));
// It displays: 2016-03-24 12:49:11 Europe/Bucharest
// Change $date1 to use the same timezone as $date2
$date1->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('US/Eastern'));
echo($date1->format('Y-m-d H:i:s e'));
// Now it displays: 2016-03-24 06:49:11 US/Eastern
// It provides easy ways to generate another date:
$date3 = clone $date1; // create a duplicate
$date3->add(new DateInterval('P2D')); // modify the duplicate
// $date3 is 2 days in the future
echo($date3->format('Y-m-d H:i:s e'));
// It displays: 2016-03-26 06:49:11 US/Eastern
// Get the difference between $date3 and $date1
$diff = $date3->diff($date1)
// you get the difference in date components (days, hours, minutes etc).
print_r($diff);
A date-time value you extract from the database is incomplete. It lacks the timezone. If you stored the value in the database in the past then you should know what timezone it uses. If you get the datetime from the database using SELECT NOW() then the timezone is the default timezone used by the server. It is stored in the system_time_zone server variable and can be queried with SELECT ##system_time_zone
The query:
SELECT NOW() AS now, ##system_time_zone AS tz
returns the local date and time and the timezone used by the MySQL server.
You can use them to create a DateTime object to work with, as in the example code provided above.
As a general rule, always use a single time for the values you store as datetime in the database. I suggest using UTC because everything is relative to it and it doesn't observe DST. Or you can use columns of type TIMESTAMP instead (absolute timestamp do not care about timezones and DST) but they are more difficult to handle.

DateTime->format(epoch) returning the wrong date

I am working on a project and I am having an issue formatting an epoch time to a human readable time.
I have the following epoch time 1428512160 and when I put this through epochconverter.com I get the human time of 08/04/2015 17:56:00 GMT+1:00 DST as expected.
I then use the following code in order to perform the conversion from the epoch time to a human date time.
$dt = new DateTime($supportDetails["Reported"]);
$reportedTimeString = $dt->format('d-m-Y H:i:s');
$supportDetails[Reported] is the epoch time (I've printed it so I know it's correct).
The result I get back however is 08-04-2160 14:28:51.
You need to add an # for the timestamp in the DateTime class, like this:
$dt = new DateTime("#" . $supportDetails["Reported"]);
//^ See here
You can also see this in the manual. And a quote from there:
Unix Timestamp "#" "-"? [0-9]+ "#1215282385"
Also note that the current timezone is getting ignored, which you can also see in the manual:
Note:
The $timezone parameter and the current timezone are ignored when the $time parameter either is a UNIX timestamp (e.g. #946684800) or specifies a timezone (e.g. 2010-01-28T15:00:00+02:00).
Printing date and time is correct.
Its based on what GMT you have set in your PHP.
If you printing with GMT you will get required result.
Try the following code:
$reportedTimeString = date("d-m-Y H:i:s", $supportDetails["Reported"]);
Or the following:
$date = new DateTime();
$date->setTimestamp($supportDetails["Reported"]);
$reportedTimeString = $date->format("d-m-Y H:i:s");
The problem I see is with your formatting.
If you look at PHP's date function you can see that you just need to write each portion of the desired date & time into a string.
The following formatting gives the same output you were looking for:
$dt = new DateTime($supportDetails["Reported"]);
$reportedTimeString = $dt->format('d/m/Y H:i:s \G\M\TP T');

add one year to datetime with php

$data['user']['time'] = '2011-03-07 00:33:45';
how can we add 1 year to this date ?
something like $newdata = $data['user']['time'] + 1 year ?
or
$newdata = 2012-03-07 00:33:45
Thanks
Adam Ramadhan
strtotime() is the function you're looking for:
$data['user']['seal_data'] = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('+1 year', strtotime($data['user']['time'])));
First, you have to convert the MySQL datetime to something that PHP can understand. There are two ways of doing this...
Use UNIX_TIMESTAMP() in your query to tell MySQL to return a UNIX timestamp of the datetime column.
SELECT whatever, UNIX_TIMESTAMP(myTime) AS 'myUnixTime' FROM myTable;
Use DateTime::createFromFormat to convert your string time to something PHP can understand.
$date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d H:i:s', $data['user']['time']);
Once that is done, you can work with the time... Depending on the method you used above, you can use one of the following.
If you have a unix timestamp, you can use the following to add a year:
$inAYear = strtotime('+1 year', $data['user']['unixTime']);
If you have a DateTime object, you can use the following:
$inAYear = $date->add(new DateInterval('P1Y'));
Now, to display your date in a format that is respectable, you must tell PHP to return a string in the proper format.
If you have a unix timestamp, you can use the following:
$strTime = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $inAYear);
If you have a DateTime object, you can use the following:
$strTime = $inAYear->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');
Alternatively, if you don't want to deal with all of that, you can simply add one year when you query.
SELECT whatever, DATE_ADD(myTime, INTERVAL 1 YEAR) AS 'inAYear' FROM myTable;
Current (2017) Practice is to use DateTime
This question is top on a google search for "php datetime add one year", but severely outdated. While most of the previous answers will work fine for most cases, the established standard is to use DateTime objects for this instead, primarily due strtotime requiring careful manipulation of timezones and DST.
TL;DR
Convert to DateTime: $date = new DateTime('2011-03-07 00:33:45', [user TZ]);
Use DateTime::modify: $date->modify('+1 year');
Format to needs.
Change the timezone with DateTime::setTimezone from the list of supported timezones: $date->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('Pacific/Chatham'));
Convert to string with DateTime::format: echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');
Following this pattern for manipulating dates and times will handle the worst oddities of timezone/DST/leap-time for you.
Just remember two final notes:
Life is easier with your system timezone set at UTC.
NEVER modify the system timezone outside of configuration files.
I've seen too much code that relies on date_default_timezone_set. If you're doing this, stop. Save the timezone in a variable, and pass it around your application instead, please.
More Reading
How to calculate the difference between two dates using PHP?
Convert date format yyyy-mm-dd => dd-mm-yyyy
PHP - strtotime, specify timezone
I think you could use strtotime() to do this pretty easily. Something like:
$newdata = date('c', strtotime($data['user']['time'] . ' +1 year'));
Though the 'c' format string isn't the same as your input format. You could consult date()'s docs for how to construct the correct one.
'Y-m-d H:i:s' — as Tim Cooper suggests — looks correct.
This should do the trick (not tested).
$data = "2011-03-07 00:33:45";
echo 'Original date +1 year: ' . date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime(date("Y-m-d H:i:s", strtotime($data)) . " +1 year"));
First-of-all if your date format is separated by a slash (/), like '2019/12/31' then you should convert it in dash (-) format, like '2019-12-31', to do so use str_replace() function.
$string = str_replace('/', '-', '2019/12/31'); //output: 2019-12-31
To add time/day/month/year do not use strtotime() function, because it can't add a time which is beyond year 2038.
So here I would prefer to use DateTime() function.
$string = '2000-01-01';
$date = new DateTime($string);
$date->add(new DateInterval('P60Y5M2DT6H3M25S')); //60 Years 5 Months 2 Days 6 Hours 3 Minutes 25 Seconds
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'); //output: 2060-06-03 06:03:25

PHP DateTime Inconsistency? What am I missing?

Using PHP 5.2.5 I was working with some DateTime objects and noticed a time that seemed off. The problem I'm having may be related to timezones, but I'm not sure - I'm creating a DateTime from a Unix Time Stamp and getting different/unexpected results depending on how I output it.
I created the following to easily illustrate the "issue":
$timezone = new DateTimeZone('America/Chicago');
$now = time();
$now_datetime = new DateTime('#' . $now, $timezone);
echo phpversion() . "\n\n";
echo $now . "\n";
echo $now_datetime->format('U') . "\n\n";
echo date('g:i:sa', $now) . "\n";
echo $now_datetime->format('g:i:sa') . "\n\n";
This outputs the following:
5.2.5
1287676530
1287676530
10:55:30am
3:55:30pm
I'm currently in the correct timezone, and the server shows the "right" time (10am) when using the date() function to output a formatted date, as well as 'America/Chicago' being the default timezone on that machine. But, when outputting values via DateTime::format(), the times are very different.
I added the ->format('U') just to verify that it was holding the correct timestamp.
So, I'm probably doing something wrong or I have the wrong expectations. So what am I missing?
It seems like a timezone issue with DateTime, but if that's the case, why does it show "now" in America/Chicago as ... wrong?
The timezone you 'insert' into DateTime is the timezone of the string, which may not be your current timezone, so PHP can calculate the actual datetime, not the timezone it uses to format your output. If you want it to output the time in a specific timezone, use $now_datetime->setTimezone($timezone).
The manual on DateTime's constructor has the answer:
The $timezone parameter and the current timezone are ignored when the $time parameter either is a UNIX timestamp (e.g. #946684800) or specifies a timezone (e.g. 2010-01-28T15:00:00+02:00).
This means that your timestamp is treated as a GMT one, explaining the 7 hours' difference.

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