PHP Function Reference

PHP date() Function



The PHP date() function returns a string formatted according to the specified format string using the given integer timestamp or the current time if no timestamp is given.

Syntax

date(format, timestamp)

Parameters

format Required. Specify the format string to format the outputted date string. Refer to the table below for formatting options. There are also several predefined date constants that can also be used, so for example DATE_RSS contains the format string 'D, d M Y H:i:s'.
timestamp Optional. Specify a Unix timestamp representing the date. If it is omitted or null, it defaults to the current local time.

format parameter string

Format characterDescriptionExample returned values
Day
dDay of the month, 2 digits with leading zeros01 to 31
DA textual representation of a day, three lettersMon through Sun
jDay of the month without leading zeros1 to 31
l (lowercase 'L')A full textual representation of the day of the weekSunday through Saturday
NISO-8601 numeric representation of the day of the week1 (for Monday) through 7 (for Sunday)
SEnglish ordinal suffix for the day of the month, 2 charactersst, nd, rd or th. Works well with j
wNumeric representation of the day of the week0 (for Sunday) through 6 (for Saturday)
zThe day of the year (starting from 0)0 through 365
Week
WISO-8601 week number of year, weeks starting on MondayExample: 42 (the 42nd week in the year)
Month
FA full textual representation of a month, such as January or MarchJanuary through December
mNumeric representation of a month, with leading zeros01 through 12
MA short textual representation of a month, three lettersJan through Dec
nNumeric representation of a month, without leading zeros1 through 12
tNumber of days in the given month28 through 31
Year
LWhether it's a leap year1 if it is a leap year, 0 otherwise.
oISO-8601 week-numbering year. This has the same value as Y, except that if the ISO week number (W) belongs to the previous or next year, that year is used instead.Examples: 1999 or 2003
YA full numeric representation of a year, 4 digitsExamples: 1999 or 2003
yA two digit representation of a yearExamples: 99 or 03
Time
aLowercase Ante meridiem and Post meridiemam or pm
AUppercase Ante meridiem and Post meridiemAM or PM
BSwatch Internet time000 through 999
g12-hour format of an hour without leading zeros1 through 12
G24-hour format of an hour without leading zeros0 through 23
h12-hour format of an hour with leading zeros01 through 12
H24-hour format of an hour with leading zeros00 through 23
iMinutes with leading zeros00 to 59
sSeconds with leading zeros00 through 59
uMicroseconds.Example: 654321
vMilliseconds. Same note applies as for u.Example: 654
Timezone
eTimezone identifierExamples: UTC, GMT, Atlantic/Azores
I (capital i)Whether or not the date is in daylight saving time1 if Daylight Saving Time, 0 otherwise.
ODifference to Greenwich time (GMT) without colon between hours and minutesExample: +0200
PDifference to Greenwich time (GMT) with colon between hours and minutesExample: +02:00
pThe same as P, but returns Z instead of +00:00Example: +02:00
TTimezone abbreviation, if known; otherwise the GMT offset.Examples: EST, MDT, +05
ZTimezone offset in seconds. The offset for timezones west of UTC is always negative, and for those east of UTC is always positive.-43200 through 50400
Full Date/Time
cISO 8601 date2004-02-12T15:19:21+00:00
rRFC 2822 formatted dateExample: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 16:01:07 +0200
USeconds since the Unix Epoch (January 1 1970 00:00:00 GMT)See time() method.

Return Value

Returns a formatted date string.

Example: date() example

The example below shows the usage of date() function.

<?php
  //prints date like: Monday 17th of July 2017 12:00:45 PM
  //current local time
  echo date('l jS \of F Y h:i:s A')."\n";
  //specified timestamp
  echo date('l jS \of F Y h:i:s A', 1500292845)."\n";

  //prints date like: July 1, 2000 is on a Saturday
  echo "July 1, 2000 is on a "
       .date("l", mktime(0, 0, 0, 7, 1, 2000))."\n";

  //using the constants in the format parameter
  //prints date like: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:28:57 -0700
  echo date(DATE_RFC2822)."\n";

  //prints date like: 2000-07-01T00:00:00+00:00
  echo date(DATE_ATOM, mktime(0, 0, 0, 7, 1, 2000))."\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Tuesday 14th of September 2021 09:55:39 AM
Monday 17th of July 2017 12:00:45 PM
July 1, 2000 is on a Saturday
Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:55:39 +0000
2000-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Example: Escaping characters in date()

A recognized character in the format string can be prevented from being expanded by escaping it with a preceding backslash. If the character with a backslash is already a special sequence, it also need to be escaped with the backslash.

<?php
  //prints date like: Wednesday the 15th
  echo date('l \t\h\e jS')."\n";

  //prints date like: Wednesday the 15th of July 2017
  echo date('l \t\h\e jS \of F Y');  
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Tuesday the 14th
Tuesday the 14th of September 2021

Example: date() and mktime() example

It is possible to add or subtract the number of seconds in a day or month to a timestamp because of daylight saving time. Consider the example below:

<?php
  $tomorrow  = mktime(0, 0, 0, date("m")  , date("d")+1, date("Y"));
  $lastmonth = mktime(0, 0, 0, date("m")-1, date("d"),   date("Y"));
  $nextyear  = mktime(0, 0, 0, date("m"),   date("d"),   date("Y")+1);

  //printing the result
  echo date('l jS \of F Y', $tomorrow)."\n";
  echo date('l jS \of F Y', $lastmonth)."\n";
  echo date('l jS \of F Y', $nextyear)."\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Wednesday 15th of September 2021
Saturday 14th of August 2021
Wednesday 14th of September 2022

Example: date() formatting

In the example below, different format strings is used with this function.

<?php
  echo "1. ".date("F j, Y, g:i a")."\n";
  echo "2. ".date("m.d.y")."\n";
  echo "3. ".date("j, n, Y")."\n";
  echo "4. ".date("Ymd")."\n";
  echo "5. ".date('h-i-s, j-m-y, it is w Day')."\n";
  echo "6. ".date('\i\t \i\s \t\h\e jS \d\a\y.')."\n";
  echo "7. ".date("D M j G:i:s T Y")."\n";
  echo "8. ".date('H:m:s \m \i\s\ \m\o\n\t\h')."\n";
  echo "9. ".date("H:i:s")."\n";
  echo "10. ".date("Y-m-d H:i:s")."\n"; 
?>

The output of the above code will be:

1. September 14, 2021, 11:05 am
2. 09.14.21
3. 14, 9, 2021
4. 20210914
5. 11-05-32, 14-09-21, 0530 0532 2 Tueam21
6. it is the 14th day.
7. Tue Sep 14 11:05:32 GMT 2021
8. 11:09:32 m is month
9. 11:05:32
10. 2021-09-14 11:05:32

❮ PHP Date and Time Reference