Convert DateTime to String PHP

Question

I have already researched a lot of site on how can I convert PHP DateTime object to String. I always see "String to DateTime" and not "DateTime to String"

PHP DateTime can be echoed, but what i want to process my DateTime with PHP string functions.

My question is how can I make PHP dateTime Object to a string starting from this kind of code:

$dts = new DateTime(); //this returns the current date time
echo strlen($dts);

Why do you want to process your DateTime with string functions? What are you trying to accomplish? — mgiuffrida
– mgiuffrida, Commented May 13, 2012 at 3:18

rjz · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-03 19:07:33Z

554

You can use the format method of the DateTime class:

$date = new DateTime('2000-01-01');
$result = $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');

If format fails for some reason, it will return FALSE. In some applications, it might make sense to handle the failing case:

if ($result) {
  echo $result;
} else { // format failed
  echo "Unknown Time";
}

edited Dec 3, 2012 at 19:07

answered May 13, 2012 at 3:17

rjz

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5 Comments

Watt Over a year ago

+1 It works. Can you please also tell how to check for null (in same line) before doing this conversion. Thanks!

rjz Over a year ago

Hey @Watt, good point! I've expanded the example to show how the failing case might be handled.

Timo Huovinen Over a year ago

you forgot the timezone, instead use $date->format('c') or $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s Z') or $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s T')

Chemist Over a year ago

what using statement do you need to be able to use ->format? It says missing something in Zend

FFirmenich Over a year ago

You can use this shorter form $result = (new DateTime('2000-01-01'))->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'); since PHP 5.4. Watch here: docs.php.net/manual/en/migration54.new-features.php Class member access on instantiation has been added, e.g. (new Foo)->bar().

Barry · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-23 09:32:51Z

26

The simplest way I found is:

$date   = new DateTime(); //this returns the current date time
$result = $date->format('Y-m-d-H-i-s');
echo $result . "<br>";
$krr    = explode('-', $result);
$result = implode("", $krr);
echo $result;

I hope it helps.

edited Oct 23, 2018 at 9:32

Barry

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answered Dec 7, 2013 at 12:47

sailer

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Comments

josliber · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-13 07:12:14Z

25

echo date_format($date,"Y/m/d H:i:s");

edited Aug 13, 2015 at 7:12

josliber

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answered Aug 13, 2015 at 6:52

Dhawal Naik

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Comments

Glauco Neves · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-06 19:35:10Z

20

There are some predefined formats in date_d.php to use with format like:

define ('DATE_ATOM', "Y-m-d\TH:i:sP");
define ('DATE_COOKIE', "l, d-M-y H:i:s T");
define ('DATE_ISO8601', "Y-m-d\TH:i:sO");
define ('DATE_RFC822', "D, d M y H:i:s O");
define ('DATE_RFC850', "l, d-M-y H:i:s T");
define ('DATE_RFC1036', "D, d M y H:i:s O");
define ('DATE_RFC1123', "D, d M Y H:i:s O");
define ('DATE_RFC2822', "D, d M Y H:i:s O");
define ('DATE_RFC3339', "Y-m-d\TH:i:sP");
define ('DATE_RSS', "D, d M Y H:i:s O");
define ('DATE_W3C', "Y-m-d\TH:i:sP");

Use like this:

$date = new \DateTime();
$string = $date->format(DATE_RFC2822);

answered Sep 6, 2016 at 19:35

Glauco Neves

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1 Comment

Anh-Tuan Mai Over a year ago

You can use constant of DateTime (eg DateTime::ISO8601), it makes the code easier to read.

lisandro · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-30 02:18:08Z

2

Shorter way using list. And you can do what you want with each date component.

list($day,$month,$year,$hour,$min,$sec) = explode("/",date('d/m/Y/h/i/s'));
echo $month.'/'.$day.'/'.$year.' '.$hour.':'.$min.':'.$sec;

answered Sep 30, 2017 at 2:18

lisandro

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Comments

Lee Taylor · Accepted Answer · 2025-05-28 16:04:14Z

1

This worked for me

$start_time   = date_create_from_format('Y-m-d H:i:s', $start_time);
$current_date = new DateTime();
$diff         = $start_time->diff($current_date);
$aa           = (string)$diff->format('%R%a');
echo gettype($aa);

edited May 28 at 16:04

Lee Taylor

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answered Oct 16, 2014 at 13:40

sumit sharma

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