PHP DateInterval - format() Method
The PHP DateInterval::format() method formats the interval. The date_interval_format() function is an alias of this method.
Syntax
//Object-oriented style public DateInterval::format(format) //Procedural style date_interval_format(object, format)
Parameters
object |
Required. For procedural style only: A DateInterval object. |
format |
Required. Specify the format. The characters mentioned in the table below can be used in the format parameter string. Each format character must be prefixed by a percent sign (%).
|
format parameter string
| Format character | Description | Example values |
|---|---|---|
| % | Literal % | % |
| Y | Years, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | 01, 03 |
| y | Years, numeric | 1, 3 |
| M | Months, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | 01, 03, 12 |
| m | Months, numeric | 1, 3, 12 |
| D | Days, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | 01, 03, 31 |
| d | Days, numeric | 1, 3, 31 |
| a | Total number of days as a result of a DateTime::diff() or (unknown) otherwise | 4, 18, 8123 |
| H | Hours, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | 01, 03, 23 |
| h | Hours, numeric | 1, 3, 23 |
| I | Minutes, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | 01, 03, 59 |
| i | Minutes, numeric | 1, 3, 59 |
| S | Seconds, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | 01, 03, 57 |
| s | Seconds, numeric | 1, 3, 57 |
| F | Microseconds, numeric, at least 6 digits with leading 0 | 007701, 052738, 428291 |
| f | Microseconds, numeric | 7701, 52738, 428291 |
| R | Sign "-" when negative, "+" when positive | -, + |
| r | Sign "-" when negative, empty when positive | -, |
Return Value
Returns the formatted interval.
Example: using both styles
The example below shows the usage of DateInterval::format() method.
<?php
//creating DateTime objects
$date1 = new DateTime("10-Mar-2015");
$date2 = new DateTime("25-Jun-2016");
//creating a interval DateInterval object
//by taking difference of two dates
$diff = $date1->diff($date2);
//formatting interval using object-oriented style
echo $diff->format("%a total days\n");
echo $diff->format("%m months, %d days \n");
echo $diff->format("%y years, %m months, %d days \n");
//formatting interval using Procedural style
echo date_interval_format($diff, "%a total days \n");
echo date_interval_format($diff, "%m month, %d days \n");
echo date_interval_format($diff, "%y years, %m months, %d days \n");
?>
The output of the above code will be:
473 total days 3 months, 15 days 1 years, 3 months, 15 days 473 total days 3 month, 15 days 1 years, 3 months, 15 days
Example: sign with DateInterval
Consider the example below where interval strings are produced with proper sign.
<?php
//creating DateTime objects
$date1 = new DateTime("10-Mar-2015");
$date2 = new DateTime("25-Jun-2016");
//creating a interval DateInterval object
//by taking difference of two dates
$diff = $date2->diff($date1);
echo date_interval_format($diff, "%a total days \n");
echo date_interval_format($diff, "%R%a total days \n");
?>
The output of the above code will be:
473 total days -473 total days
❮ PHP Date and Time Reference
