How to Convert Date Formats in PHP?

Converting Date Formats in PHP

Question:

How can one convert one date format to another in PHP? For instance, converting the format 'y-m-d-h-i-s' to 'Y-m-d H:i:s'.

Answer:

PHP 5.3 and Up:

For PHP versions 5.3 and above, the DateTime::createFromFormat method can be employed. It allows for specifying a precise mask (the date() syntax) to parse incoming date strings.

PHP 5.2 and Lower:

In PHP versions 5.2 and below, manual parsing is necessary. Using substr(), extract date elements (year, month, day, hour, minute, second) and pass them to mktime(), which will generate a timestamp.

Alternative Solution:

To avoid manual parsing, consider utilizing a format that strftime() can interpret. strftime() supports a wide array of date inputs. For example, the following would work:

$old_date = date('l, F d y h:i:s'); // returns Saturday, January 30 10 02:06:34
$old_date_timestamp = strtotime($old_date);
$new_date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', $old_date_timestamp);

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