PHP | date_default_timezone_get() Function

Hello folks! welcome back to a new edition of our tutorial on PHP. In this tutorial guide, we are going to be studying about the PHP date_default_timezone_get() Function.

PHP date_default_timezone_get() function return the default timezone used by all the functions in a script.

If you set the timezone using the built-in PHP date_default_timezone_set(), then the date_default_timezone_get() returns the time zone value which was previously set. If you have not explicitly set any default time zone value then this function will return the default timezone value of UTC.

Syntax

Following below is the syntax to use this function -

date_default_timezone_get()

READ: PHP | date_date_set() Function

Parameter Details

This built-in PHP function does not accept any parameters.

Return Value

This built-in PHP function returns a string value representing the default time zone.

PHP Version

This function was first introduced as part of core PHP v 5.1.0 and, works with all the later versions.

Example1

Following example retrieves and prints the current default timezone to the screen -

<?php
   $timeZone = date_default_timezone_get();
   print("Default timezone: ".$timeZone);
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Default timezone: UTC

Example2

In the following example, we are setting the default time zone making use of the built-in PHP date_default_timezone_set() function -

<?php
   //setting the timezone
   $tz = 'Nigeria/Rivers';   
   date_default_timezone_set($tz);
   $timeZone = date_default_timezone_get();
   print("Default timezone: ".$timeZone);
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Default timezone: Nigeria/Rivers

Example3

The following example prints the default timezone alongside with its abbreviation -

<?php
   //setting the timezone
   $tz = 'Eastern Africa Time';   
   date_default_timezone_set($tz);
   //Retrieving the default timezone
   $timeZone = date_default_timezone_get();
   print("Default timezone: ".$timeZone);
   print("\n");

   //Getting abbreviation
   //$abbvr = $timeZone.date('e').date(T);
   print("Abbreviation: " .date('T'));
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Default timezone: Eastern Africa Time
Abbreviation: EAT

Example4

Try the following example below -

<?php
   echo "Old time zone is ". date_default_timezone_get();
   $timeZone = 'America/Costa_Rica';
   
   if( date_default_timezone_set( $timeZone) ){
      # Now get this time zone.
      echo "New time zone is ". date_default_timezone_get();
   }
?>

Output

When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -

Old time zone is America/Denver
New time zone is America/Costa_Rica

READ: PHP | date_create() Function

Alright guys! This is where we are going to be rounding up for this tutorial post. In our next tutorial, we are going to be discussing about the PHP date_default_timezone_set() Function.

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Thanks for reading and bye for now.