How do I convert "9/7/2009" into a timestamp, such as one from time()? Do I use strtotime()?
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4 Answers
Yes you can use strtotime() for that
$time = strtotime('9/7/2009');
echo $time; // 1252278000
This will assume a format of mm/dd/yyyy so don't try it with UK-style dd/mm/yyyy dates.
To go the other way, use date()
$date = date('n/j/Y', $time);
echo $date; // 9/7/2009
Comments
strtotime() is correct.
http://php.net/manual/en/function.strtotime.php
You can test to be sure by putting the returned timestamp back in the date() function.
<?php echo date("m-d-Y",strtotime("9/7/2009")); ?>
Comments
Use strptime if you want to be more precise about the format to parse, and remember that when people in the rest of the world see "9/7/2009" they read 9th July 2009, not 7th September 2009.
2 Comments
somejkuser
I'm pretty sure it's MM/DD/YY as the standard format - am I incorrect?
John Carter
Yeah,
MM/DD/YY is the format strtotime() assumes by default for months - but I was talking about when people read a date, not PHP.A newer way to do this as of PHP 5.3 is to use the DateTime class with the getTimestamp() method:
$datetime = new DateTime('9/7/2009');
echo $datetime->getTimestamp();
