How can I subtract 2 dates from one another? - php

Question

I want to subtract a date in the future from todays date, I want it to display both the day, hour and minutes until the target date.
Here is my code
<?php
date_default_timezone_set('Europe/London');
$format = "h:i d";
$date = date($format);
$target = date($format, mktime(0,0,0,12,8,2011));
echo date($format, $target-$date);
?>
Kind regards,
Adam

Answer 1

Don't use date for operations, it's meant for displaying dates. Instead subtract 2 timestamps:
...
$date = mktime(now...);
$target = mktime(0,0,0,12,8,2011);
echo date($format, $target - $date);
But you have to realize timestamps start in 1970 and end in 2038, therefore, for example, 2011 - 2007 = 1974.
More suitable in your case would be date_diff as #Kerrek SB suggested in comment.
Example (from php.net):
$datetime1 = date_create('2009-10-11');
$datetime2 = date_create('2009-10-13');
$interval = date_diff($datetime1, $datetime2);
echo $interval->format('%R%a days'); // +2 days

Answer 2

Maybe this will help you
<?php
$target = mktime (23, 34, 0, 9, 28, 2009);
$today = mktime();
$difference =($target-$today) ;
$days = $difference / 3600 / 24;
$difference = $difference - floor($days) * 3600 * 24;
$hours = $difference / 3600;
$difference = $difference - floor($hours) * 3600;
$minutes = $difference / 60;
echo "Days: ";
echo floor($days);
echo "<br />";
echo "Hours: ";
echo floor($hours);
echo "<br />";
echo "Minutes: ";
echo floor($minutes);
?>