PHP | date_interval_format() 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_interval_format() Function.

The PHP date_interval_format() function is an alias of the DateInterval::format(). This built-in function accepts an interval and a format string as parameters and, formats the given interval in the specified format.

Syntax

Following below is the syntax to use this function -

date_interval_format($interval, $format)

READ: PHP | date() Function

Parameter Details

Sr.No	Parameter & Description
1	interval (Mandatory) This is an object of the DateInterval you need to format.
2	format (Mandatory) This is a string value, specifying the format.

Return Value

This PHP function returns the formatted interval.

PHP Version

This function was first introduced as part of core PHP version 5.3 and, it works with all of the later versions.

Example1

Following example demonstrates the usage of date_interval_format() function -

<?php
  $interval = new DateInterval('P25DP8MP9Y');
  $format = "%d days;
  $res = date_interval_format($interval, $format);
  print($res);  
?>

Output

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

25 days

Example2

Unlike other date/time functions, the date_interval_format() does not recalculate the carry over points in date and time strings. Therefore if you pass the date and time values beyond their boundaries, they will be formatted as it is -

<?php
   $interval = new DateInterval('P45M');
   $format = "%m months";
   $res1 = date_interval_format($interval, $format);
   print($res1); 
  
   $res2 = date_interval_format(new DateInterval('PT30H'), "%h hours");
   print("\n".$res2);
?>

Output

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

45 months
30 hours

Example3

Following example below calculates the difference between a given date and the current date and formats the result via date_interval_format() function -

<?php
   $date1 = date_create("25-09-1989");
   $date2 = date_create("1-09-2012");
   $interval = date_diff($date1, $date2);
   $res = date_interval_format($interval, '%Y years %d days');
   print($res);  

?>

Example4

Try the following example -

<?php
print(date_interval_format(new DateInterval('P12D'), "%d days")."\n");
print(date_interval_format(new DateInterval('P7M'), "%m months")."\n");
print(date_interval_format(new DateInterval('P12Y'), "%y years")."\n");
print(date_interval_format(new DateInterval('PT9H'), "%h hours")."\n");
print(date_interval_format(new DateInterval('PT45S'), "%s seconds")."\n");
?>

Output

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

22 years 7 days
12 days
7 months
12 years
9 hours
45 seconds

READ: PHP | date_get_last_errors() Function

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

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