CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpmysql
BigJobbies
BigJobbies

Reputation: 4343

PHP - Date returning the wrong value

I have a little bit of code and it doesn't seem to be working correctly.

I'm trying to put it into the correct format for my database. I'm doing the following:

date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('24/05/2011'));

But every time I echo it, it returns:

1970-01-01 10:00:00

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1907

Answers (4)

Your Common Sense
Your Common Sense

Reputation: 157838

First, it's not date() but strtotime(). Next, strtotime() is not a magic wand, reading your mind and understands whatever format.
It's just a function, accepting certain arguments. So, if it returns wrong value - check input parameters and read manual to see if they are correct.

Third, you don't need such complicated function anyway. All you need is a few string operations:

list($d,$m,$y) = explode("/",$date);
$date = "$y-$m-$d";

Understanding string operations is most important thing in using PHP.

Upvotes: 0

Shakti Singh
Shakti Singh

Reputation: 86336

Dates in the m/d/y or d-m-y formats are disambiguated by looking at the separator between the various components: if the separator is a slash (/), then the American m/d/y is assumed; whereas if the separator is a dash (-) or a dot (.), then the European d-m-y format is assumed.

From the docmentation of strtotime

This should work

date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('05/24/2011'));

Upvotes: 3

Mark Mooibroek
Mark Mooibroek

Reputation: 7696

Just a guess, but try this:

date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('24/05/2011 00:00:00'));

After testing it shows this works:

echo date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime("24-5-2011"));

Upvotes: 1

Jimmy Sawczuk
Jimmy Sawczuk

Reputation: 13614

It means that your strtotime function is failing to parse that date. When it fails, it returns false which date reads as 0, which is the UNIX epoch. As Programmer XR suggested, you may need to switch your format a bit - if what he said doesn't work, try converting the datetime into this format: 

date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('2011-05-24 00:00:00'));

Upvotes: 1

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