Using the PHP programming language to display date information is a useful way to make a website more functional. There are several different functions to use in order to display the date in a given format, including the gmdate(), mktime(), and UNIX_TIMESTAMP functions.
UNIX epoch dates
UNIX epoch dates in PHP are a handy way to display date and time in your PHP scripts. They are particularly useful for dates that are close together, and allow you to see the difference between two timestamps. It is also possible to use the date function in PHP to convert a database table column into a Unix timestamp.
The DateTime class in PHP provides an object-oriented approach to converting dates and times. This class is recommended for handling time and date information. It has an optional flag to indicate whether the function is in a daylight saving time state.
The epoch date is a 32-bit integer representing the epoch. It is the closest round date when Unix time was invented. The Unix epoch is 00:00:00 UTC on January 1 1970.
A Unix time is a single, signed number that counts the number of seconds since a certain point in time. Unlike human readable times, Unix time is not inclusive of leap seconds. Typically, it represents 68 years of time on either side of the epoch. It can be expressed as positive or negative numbers.
A number of programming languages provide methods for storing time with an explicit time zone. Some of these functions include the date, time and microtime functions. A common example is the DateTimeImmutable class.
The strtotime() function in PHP is one such function. It is a handy function to convert an epoch date into a regular date/time. The function requires that the date component be in a specific order, and then converts it to the Unix epoch.
UNIX_TIMESTAMP function
UNIX_TIMESTAMP is a PHP function to display date and time. This function returns an integer representing the number of seconds since the Unix Epoch on January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. If the argument contains fractional seconds, UNIX_TIMESTAMP will return a decimal value. If there is no argument, UNIX_TIMESTAMP will produce a Unix timestamp with no date.
UNIX_TIMESTAMP will be saved in a variable called $ad. This will be the date and time you want to display, with the timezone attached. The timestamp can be converted to a human-readable date using the date() function. The date() function uses RFC 2822 to format the date and time.
The TIMESTAMP function is similar to the DATETIME function. It returns an integer representing the time since the UNIX Epoch on 1 January 1970, 00:00:00 UTC. Unlike the DATETIME function, TIMESTAMP also allows negative timestamps. However, before PHP 5.1.0, negative timestamps weren’t supported.
The strtotime() function is used to convert UNIX timestamps to normal date/time. It can be used to subtract years, months, minutes, and hours. It will also accept dates that are in other English date formats. The strtotime function has an optional flag for daylight saving time (DST) state.
UNIX timestamps are a long integer representing the number of seconds since the Unix epoch on 1 January 1970, 00:00:00. This range is usually enough for most applications. UNIX timestamps are tied to the 32-bit limit of mainstream CPUs.
gmdate()
Several PHP functions are available to format the date. Some of them are more useful than others. However, it’s important to understand that not all of them will work for you. Some of these will only be useful if you combine them with other functions.
One of the most popular is the date function. This function displays the date in the format you specify in the first parameter. The format can be the month name, weekday, or even a string. You can also pass the timezone format to the format argument. You can choose to display the timestamp in local time, UTC, or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Likewise, there are a few other PHP date functions that may be more useful to you. These include the gmdate and idate functions. These are similar to the date function in that they use a date format charter to give you an integer value representing the components of a date. You can also translate dates with an associative array.
For example, the gmdate function can convert a date in the format you specify into a UTC date. In addition to the gmdate function, you can also use the gmmktime function to adjust the date to match Greenwich Mean Time. You can also set the timezone with the timezone setting on a page.
Other functions that can be used to find the right date are the mktime function and the date function. These functions use the current time and the local time to generate a timestamp. The mktime function is particularly useful when combined with the date function.
mktime()
mktime() is a PHP built-in function to generate a timestamp for a given date. The function will use the current date and time to create a Unix timestamp. This is an integer value containing the number of seconds between the current time and the Unix Epoch (January 1, 1970 00:00:00 GMT).
The mktime() function accepts up to seven arguments. The first three are zero, while the other three can be any number you like. The second parameter is optional and can be used to specify the format of the date-time.
The optional hour parameter specifies the hour relative to the start of the day. If left out, the second parameter will be set to the current local time.
The is_dst parameter is an optional parameter that can be used to determine if the time is in daylight savings time (DST). If the time is in DST, then this parameter can be set to a positive number. If not, the value can be set to a negative number.
The mktime function can also be used to generate useful date and time strings. This is particularly helpful in date pruning. A string of dates can be generated by combining mktime with date(). The function can be used to determine future dates and to find a date in the past.
mktime() is a reversed version of the date() function. The first three arguments are zero, while the second is an associative array containing the number of seconds passed.
u format character
Using PHP to display date and time in a meaningful way is often a requirement for website developers. This can be done by using a few key PHP date functions. The most important one is the date() function. It takes a string as a parameter and converts the provided UNIX timestamp into a more readable form.
You can also get a date and time from any point in the past or present by modifying the parameters. The second parameter is optional, and if it isn’t there, your output will be in a plain old string format.
A common date format is the full month name followed by a four digit year and two digit day of the month. There are a number of different variations, such as a full month minus the year, the month minus the year, the month augmented by the year and the month plus the year.
You can use many of the same characters in the PHP date function, but you will need to use the u format character in order to get the most out of it. This is especially true if you are creating your own user-based timestamps with the date_create() function.
In short, using the u format character isn’t as exciting as it sounds, and it can be difficult to justify the need for it. You may want to consider combining it with a more powerful function such as gmdate().
PHP timezones
Using PHP’s timezone function is a useful feature. Whether you are looking to display a time zone or set the time for your own users, this inbuilt function will get you there.
The date and time are an integral part of the software development process. As such, handling them properly is a must. Luckily, most programming languages offer support for time zones.
Among these is the DateTimeZone class. It offers a useful way to display dates and times in a human readable form. In addition, it enables users to check the timezone of a given point in time. This information can be gleaned via the new getZone method.
A related function is the date_default_timezone_set. It sets the default timezone of your server. Depending on your local server configuration, it can be set to any of the following: UTC, Asia/Kolkata, or US/Central.
The PHP date and time API is not perfect. However, it is still powerful enough to handle most of the day-to-day timezone needs. It is important to note, however, that this functionality is not universally supported by all programming languages. If you are using an older version of PHP, you may need to install a timezone database via PECL’s timezonedb. Alternatively, you can use the date and time functions of other languages.
For example, in France, they use a 24-hour format instead of AM/PM. The same can be said for India’s timezone.
