PHP idate() Function

Example

Format a local time/date as integer. Test all the different formats:

<?php
echo idate("B") . " ";
echo idate("d") . " ";
echo idate("h") . " ";
echo idate("H") . " ";
echo idate("i") . " ";
echo idate("I") . " ";
echo idate("L") . " ";
echo idate("m") . " ";
echo idate("s") . " ";
echo idate("t") . " ";
echo idate("U") . " ";
echo idate("w") . " ";
echo idate("W") . " ";
echo idate("y") . " ";
echo idate("Y") . " ";
echo idate("z") . " ";
echo idate("Z") . " ";
?>

Try it Yourself »

Definition and Usage

The idate() function formats a local time and/or date as integer.

Note: The idate() function accepts just one character in the format parameter!

Syntax

idate(format, timestamp)

Parameter Values

Parameter	Description
format	Required. Specifies how to return the result. One of the following characters is allowed: B - Swatch Beat/Internet Time d - Day of the month h - Hour (12 hour format) H - Hour (24 hour format) i - Minutes I - returns 1 if DST (daylight saving time) is activated, 0 otherwise L - returns 1 for leap year, 0 otherwise m - Month number s - Seconds t - Days in current month U - Seconds since the Unix Epoch (January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT) w - Day of the week (Sunday=0) W - ISO-8601 week number of year (week starts on Monday) y - Year (1 or 2 digits) Y - Year (4 digits) z - Day of the year Z - Timezone offset in seconds
timestamp	Optional. Specifies a Unix timestamp that represents the date and/or time to be formatted. Default is the current local time (time())

Parameter

Description

format

Required. Specifies how to return the result. One of the following characters is allowed:

B - Swatch Beat/Internet Time
d - Day of the month
h - Hour (12 hour format)
H - Hour (24 hour format)
i - Minutes
I - returns 1 if DST (daylight saving time) is activated, 0 otherwise
L - returns 1 for leap year, 0 otherwise
m - Month number
s - Seconds
t - Days in current month
U - Seconds since the Unix Epoch (January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT)
w - Day of the week (Sunday=0)
W - ISO-8601 week number of year (week starts on Monday)
y - Year (1 or 2 digits)
Y - Year (4 digits)
z - Day of the year
Z - Timezone offset in seconds

timestamp

Optional. Specifies a Unix timestamp that represents the date and/or time to be formatted. Default is the current local time (time())

Technical Details

Return Value:	Returns an integer formatted according the specified format using the given timestamp
PHP Version:	5+
PHP Changelog:	PHP 5.1: Now issues E_STRICT and E_NOTICE time zone errors

❮ PHP Date/Time Reference