PHP | date_format() Function
November 17, 2020
Hello dear readers! welcome back to another edition of our tutorial on PHP. In this tutorial guide, we are going to be discussing about the PHP date_format() Function.
The PHP date_format() function is an alias of the DateTime::format() function. It accepts a DateTime object and a format string (which represents a desired date and time format) as parameters, and then formats the object in the specified format and returns the result.
The PHP date_format() function is an alias of the DateTime::format() function. It accepts a DateTime object and a format string (which represents a desired date and time format) as parameters, and then formats the object in the specified format and returns the result.
Syntax
Following below is the syntax to use this function -
date_format($date_time_object, $format)
Parameter Details
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| object | Required. Specifies a DateTime object returned by date_create() |
| format | Required. Specifies the format for the date. The following characters can be used:
and the following predefined constants can also be used (available since PHP 5.1.0):
|
Return Value
This built-in PHP function returns the formatted date string.
PHP Version
This function was first introduced as part of core PHP v 5.2.1 and, works with all the later versions.
Example1
Try the following example. Here, we are creating a DateTime object, formatting it, and then printing the result to the screen -
<?php //Creating a DateTime object $date_time_Obj = date_create("25-09-1989"); //formatting the date/time object $format = date_format($date_time_Obj, "y-d-m"); print("Date in yy-dd-mm format: ".$format); ?>
Output
When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -
Date in yy-dd-mm format: 89-25-09
Example2
The following example formats a DateTime object as date and time separately -
<?php $dateString = '11-06-2012 12:50:41 GMT'; $dateTimeObj = date_create($dateString); $date = date_format($dateTimeObj, 'd-m-y'); print("Date: ".$date); print("\n"); $time = date_format($dateTimeObj, 'H:i:s'); print("Time: ".$time); ?>
Output
When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -
Date: 11-06-12 Time: 12:50:41
Example3
The following example shows few valid format string in PHP -
<?php $dateTimeObj = date_create("11-06-2012 12:50:41 GMT"); print("Date in y-m-d format: ".date_format($dateTimeObj, 'Y-m-d')); print("\n"); print("Date in d/m/y format: ".date_format($dateTimeObj, 'd/m/y')); print("\n"); print("Date in Y-m-d H:i:s format: ".date_format($dateTimeObj, 'Y-m-d H:i:s')); print("\n"); print("Date in G:i:A format: ".date_format($dateTimeObj, 'G-i-A')); ?>
Output
When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -
Date in y-m-d format: 2012-06-11 Date in d/m/y format: 11/06/12 Date in Y-m-d H:i:s format: 2012-06-11 12:50:41 Date in G:i:A format: 12-50-PM
Example4
Below example creates a new date using the date_format() function -
<?php $dateSrc = '2005-04-19 12:50 GMT'; $dateTime = date_create( $dateSrc);; # Now set a new date using date_format(); date_format( $dateTime, 2000, 12, 12); echo "New Formatted date is ". $dateTime->format("Y-m-d\TH:i:s\Z"); echo "
"; # Using second function. $dateTime = new DateTime($dateSrc); $dateTime->setDate( 1999, 10, 12); echo "New Formatted date is ". $dateTime->format("Y-m-d\TH:i:s\Z"); ?>
Output
When the above code is executed, it will produce the following result -
New Formatted date is 2000-12-12T12:50:00Z New Formatted date is 1999-10-12T12:50:00Z
Alright guys! This is where we are rounding up for this tutorial post. In our next tutorial guide, we are going to be discussing about the PHP date_isodate_set() Function.
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