Correctly format times between client (javascript) and the server (PHP)

Question

I have a date object in javascript that goes as follows:

var date = 2014-12-01T00:00:00.000Z

And if I do:

var date = new Date(date);
date.setUTCMonth(date.getUTCMonth()+1);

Then the toISOString() method shows the expected value:

2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

But when I send that date time string through a POST to a PHP script and parse it back to a date using the DateTime class, I get this:

2014-12-31 19:00:00 -0500

I have tried setting the timezone using the DateTimeZone class and setting the timezone to my own and UTC without luck:

new DateTime($_POST['DateTime'],new DateTimeZone('America/Mexico_City'));
new DateTime($_POST['DateTime'],new DateTimeZone('UTC'));

Is there a way to set the timezone in javascript, using the Date class? Is there another way to work around this? I have small if not zero experience at all dealing with timezones.

Update:

Here's my ISO-formatted time string as per the toISOString() method (javascript):

2014-09-01T00:00:00.000Z

And here are the contents of my $_POST var as per print_r():

Array (
    [DateTime] => 2014-09-01T00:00:00.000Z
)

Here's the output of my formatter function, using the '%c' format (es_MX locale):

dom 31 ago 2014 19:00:00 CDT

And the mentioned formatter function:

function formatDate($date) {
    return utf8_encode(strftime('%c', $date->getTimestamp()));
}

nhaa123 · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-04 16:12:14Z

1

I think when you send the date-string, it's somehow in different format. At least when I tested this, it works as expected:

$a = new DateTime('2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z');
echo $a->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'); // Outputs '2015-01-01 00:00:00'

Demo here.

answered Sep 4, 2014 at 16:12

nhaa123

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 10:26:53Z

1

The issue you are getting is that when you use the following format

$date = '2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z';

You are specifying a timezone.

Notice the "Z" at the end of your date, using it is the equivalent of "nautical timezone (GMT)"

Therefore when you try to run this code, you will get the exact same date which is not what you expect even when you have specified the DateTimeZone as a constructor parameter.

$dateTime = new DateTime($date, new DateTimeZone('America/Mexico_City')); 
echo $dateTime->format('c'). "\n"; // 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

$dateTime = new DateTime($date, new DateTimeZone('UTC')); 
echo $dateTime->format('c'). "\n"; //2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

This is expected PHP behavior and is documented in the DateTime::__construct documentation under the $timezone parameter:

Note:

The $timezone parameter and the current timezone are ignored when the $time parameter either is a UNIX timestamp (e.g. @946684800) or specifies a timezone (e.g. 2010-01-28T15:00:00+02:00).

In your case you are specifying a timezone directly with in your date (the "Z") and this is why the DateTimeZone object is ignored.

To avoid this and set a custom time zone either set it in the date time string or get rid of the Z.:

$date = '2015-01-01T00:00:00.000';
$dateTime = new DateTime($date, new DateTimeZone('America/Mexico_City'));
echo $dateTime->format('c'). "\n"; // 2015-01-01T00:00:00-06:00

$dateTime = new DateTime($date, new DateTimeZone('UTC')); 
echo $dateTime->format('c'). "\n"; // 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

$date = '2015-01-01T00:00:00.000 America/Mexico_City';
$dateTime = new DateTime($date);
echo $dateTime->format('c'). "\n"; //2015-01-01T00:00:00-06:00

See the code working for different versions of PHP here: Demo

Also take a look at this related question I asked recently: PHP DateTime Timezones - Constructor vs Setter method

edited May 23, 2017 at 10:26

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answered Sep 4, 2014 at 16:17

Onema

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6 Comments

arielnmz Over a year ago

The problem is not that I'm getting the Z-zone time, but rather a -0500 time and I want a Z-zone time.

Onema Over a year ago

Can you please specify what you get from $_POST['DateTime']?

Onema Over a year ago

Also take a look at the output in the code provided here: 3v4l.org/0dTRW. If you are not getting a timezone back you should use the new DateTimeZone('UTC') IN THE CONSTRUCTOR ONLY and not use the DateTime::setTimezone() method as you will get different results see: 3v4l.org/8Zd1Y. In the constructor it will ONLY change the timezone, in the method it will change the time (h:m) and timezone to represent the objects current date-time in a different timezone. See the related question: stackoverflow.com/questions/25658539/…

arielnmz Over a year ago

The exact same string that the toISOString() method returns in my JavaScript algorithm, i.e. '2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z'

Onema Over a year ago

Right, but once you submit your request and the PHP server handles the request, what is the content of the value in $_POST['DateTime']? It doesn't make sense that if you use that same string "2015-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" and set the timezone in the constructor as UTC you will get the date "2014-12-31 19:00:00 -0500" which has a time offset of -5; you must not be using the correct value, or you are setting the timezone using the DateTime::setTimezone. If you look at the following Demo 3v4l.org/YStcm you will see the functionality is the same for all versions of PHP 5.2.0 - 5.6.0.

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