gettimeofday
Here is a very simple UTC timestamp:
<?php
print gmdate("Y-m-d\TH:i:s\Z");
?>
gmdate
(PHP 4, PHP 5)
gmdate — Format a GMT/UTC date/time
Description
string gmdate
( string $format
[, int $timestamp
] )
Identical to the date() function except that the time returned is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Parameters
Return Values
Returns a formatted date string. If a non-numeric value is used for timestamp , FALSE is returned and an E_WARNING level error is emitted.
ChangeLog
| Version | Description |
|---|---|
| 5.1.0 | The valid range of a timestamp is typically from Fri, 13 Dec 1901 20:45:54 GMT to Tue, 19 Jan 2038 03:14:07 GMT. (These are the dates that correspond to the minimum and maximum values for a 32-bit signed integer). However, before PHP 5.1.0 this range was limited from 01-01-1970 to 19-01-2038 on some systems (e.g. Windows). |
| 5.1.1 | There are useful constants of standard date/time formats that can be used to specify the format parameter. |
Examples
Example #1 gmdate() example
When run in Finland (GMT +0200), the first line below prints "Jan 01 1998 00:00:00", while the second prints "Dec 31 1997 22:00:00".
<?php
echo date("M d Y H:i:s", mktime(0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1998));
echo gmdate("M d Y H:i:s", mktime(0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1998));
?>
add a note
User Contributed Notesgmdate
QED2000
07-Aug-2008 08:14
07-Aug-2008 08:14
Glen
05-Dec-2007 01:32
05-Dec-2007 01:32
This routine can help obtain a UTC timestamp:
<?php
$utc_str = gmdate("M d Y H:i:s", time());
$utc = strtotime($utc_str);
?>
Note that gmmktime(), mktime() and time() all return the same value (with no params). This was the cleanest way I found to create a UTC timestamp.
jhechtf at gmail dot com
25-Jul-2007 05:19
25-Jul-2007 05:19
My function for something like this is like so:
<?php
function actual_time($format,$offset,$timestamp){
//Offset is in hours from gmt, including a - sign if applicable.
//So lets turn offset into seconds
$offset = $offset*60*60;
$timestamp = $timestamp + $offset;
//Remember, adding a negative is still subtraction ;)
return gmdate($format,$timestamp);
}
?>
It's always worked fine for me.
Blazeme
15-Jun-2007 12:25
15-Jun-2007 12:25
Here, I wrote a function (from code above) for easy time zone
settings.
Regards.
<?php
function datum($datum=true) {
$sign = "+"; // Whichever direction from GMT to your timezone. + or -
$h = "1"; // offset for time (hours)
$dst = true; // true - use dst ; false - don't
if ($dst==true) {
$daylight_saving = date('I');
if ($daylight_saving){
if ($sign == "-"){ $h=$h-1; }
else { $h=$h+1; }
}
}
$hm = $h * 60;
$ms = $hm * 60;
if ($sign == "-"){ $timestamp = time()-($ms); }
else { $timestamp = time()+($ms); }
$gmdate = gmdate("m.d.Y. g:i A", $timestamp);
if($datum==true) {
return $gmdate;
}
else {
return $timestamp;
}
}
?>
If you set first argument to true, it'll return formated date.
If false, will return $timestamp.
Enjoy!
code at ashleyhunt dot co dot uk
28-Mar-2007 04:53
28-Mar-2007 04:53
I wanted to get the time past from two MySQL dates and came up with this code that does the trick.
Supply a start date, end date and optional output date/time format the default is in seconds but will expand from SS to MM:SS and then to HH:MM:SS automatically, you may wish to force a date format that will not be dynamic (site layout etc). See examples below, also see function date() for more date format options.
<?php
function calculate_time_past($start_time, $end_time, $format = "s") {
$time_span = strtotime($end_time) - strtotime($start_time);
if ($format == "s") { // is default format so dynamically calculate date format
if ($time_span > 60) { $format = "i:s"; }
if ($time_span > 3600) { $format = "H:i:s"; }
}
return gmdate($format, $time_span);
}
$start_time = "2007-03-28 00:50:14"; // 00:50:14 will work on its own
$end_time = "2007-03-28 00:52:59"; // 00:52:59 will also work instead
echo calculate_time_past($start_time, $end_time) . "<br />"; // will output 02:45
echo calculate_time_past($start_time, $end_time, "H:i:s"); // will output 00:02:45 when format is overridden
?>
I hope it of use.
Regards,
Ashley
derek at d3swimming dot com
14-Nov-2006 05:30
14-Nov-2006 05:30
I don't really know what I'm doing, so I just stole various parts of this from other people around here and did a little improvising on my own. Hope this is helpful to somebody.
This script allows you to insert just three variables: direction from GMT to your timezone ($sign), number of hours to your timezone ($h), and whether or not you have daylight savings time ($dst). The rest, including daylight savings time, will take care of itself (unless I don't know what I'm doing!).
<?php
// Get info about time zone relationship to GMT at: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/
// SELECT TIME ZONE
$sign = "-"; // Whichever direction from GMT to your timezone.
$h = "8"; // Hour for time zone goes here e.g. +8 or -4, just remove the + or -
$dst = "true"; // Just insert "true" if your location uses daylight savings time or "false" if it does not
// DETECT AND ADJUST FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME
if ($dst) {
$daylight_saving = date('I');
if ($daylight_saving){
if ($sign == "-"){ $h=$h-1; }
else { $h=$h+1; }
}
}
// FIND DIFFERENCE FROM GMT
$hm = $h * 60;
$ms = $hm * 60;
// SET CURRENT TIME
if ($sign == "-"){ $timestamp = time()-($ms); }
else { $timestamp = time()+($ms); }
// SAMPLE OUTPUT
$gmdate = gmdate("m/d/Y g:i:s A", $timestamp);
echo "Your current time now is : $gmdate . ";
?>
ttech5593 at gmail dot com
29-Mar-2006 12:53
29-Mar-2006 12:53
For me most of the examples here needed the + or - seconds to set the time zone. I wanted a faster way to get the time zone in seconds. So I created this :
<?php
$h = "3";// Hour for time zone goes here e.g. +7 or -4, just remove the + or -
$hm = $h * 60;
$ms = $hm * 60;
$gmdate = gmdate("m/d/Y g:i:s A", time()-($ms)); // the "-" can be switched to a plus if that's what your time zone is.
echo "Your current time now is : $gmdate . ";
?>
It works. Hope it helps.
gefiltefishee at comcast dot net
11-Mar-2006 10:54
11-Mar-2006 10:54
I was struggling with how to get my browser to output MY local time using gmdate().
I figured it out and here's what you do (ASSUMING THE SERVER IS ON GMT, If not, just echo a generic gmdate() without timezone setting and calculate the number of hours ahead or behind you are of that time, convert it to seconds and add [for ahead] or subtract [for behind] that value to time() ):
NOTE: these are US times [setlocale(LC_TIME, 'en_US')]
for Central Time (7 hours behind GMT):
gmdate("format", time()-(25200));
For Pacific Time (9 hours behind GMT):
gmdate("format", time()-(32400));
REMEMBER - THE VALUES ABOVE ASSUME THE SERVER IS ON GMT
I used the following gmdate() format:
"l, F jS, Y g:i a"
but you can use what you like ;)
Hope this helps!
fernandobassani at gmail dot com
28-Dec-2005 02:35
28-Dec-2005 02:35
If you have the same application running in different countries, you may have some troubles getting the local time..
In my case, I was having troubles with a clock created with Macromedia Flash... the time shown by the clock was supposed to be set up by the server, passing the timestamp. When I moved the file to another country, I got a wrong time...
You can use the timezone offset ( date("Z") ) to handle this kind of thing...
<?php
$timestamp = time()+date("Z");
echo gmdate("Y/m/d H:i:s",$timestamp);
?>
Sir Derek G
25-Nov-2005 08:00
25-Nov-2005 08:00
Here's a nifty little function that returns a random timestamp between two dates.
<?php
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Return a random timestamp between two dates (inclusive)
// Example: Tue, 08 Nov 2004 06:47:10 GMT
//
// time - Starting time string
// Valid Examples:
// 10 September 2001
// next Thursday
// last Monday
// now
//
// time2 - Ending time string
function randomTimestamp($time = "" , $time2 = "")
{
if(!$time) $time = strtotime("10 September 2000");
if(!$time2) $time2 = strtotime("24 November 2005");
$timestamp = date(" D, d M Y", rand( settype($time , int) , settype($time2 , int) )); //Must be called once before becoming random, ???
$timestamp = date(" D, d M Y", rand($time , $time2))." ";//Now it's random
$h = rand(1,23);
if(strlen($h) == 1 ) $h = "0$h";
$t = $h.":";
$d = rand(1,29);
if(strlen($d) == 1 ) $d = "0$d";
$t .= $d.":";
$s = rand(0,59);
if(strlen($s) == 1 ) $s = "0$s";
$t .= $s;
$timestamp .= $t." GMT";
return $timestamp;
}
?>
rob at geek dot co dot nz
07-Nov-2005 09:06
07-Nov-2005 09:06
It's worth noting the distinction between gmgate() and date() with regards to day light savings time. If your server uses universal time and makes an adjustment by locale for daylight savings time, you will want to use date(). gmdate will display the non-adjuisted time.
paul at sysnyx dot com
23-Sep-2005 10:16
23-Sep-2005 10:16
Gives user the ability to use their timezone preferences.
I had to create this script for a very large community. I first made any posts to the database that would display the date using just time();
Example: mysql_query("INSERT INTO `table` (`datetime`) VALUES ('".time()."')");
Also, for their timezone preference, I had the values as (example):
(Eastern Timezone) -5 hours
(Newfoundland) -3 hours -30 minutes
This information would be saved in the users table.
To display the date and time in their respective timezone preference:
<?php
function datetime($datetime,$zone){
if(date('I')):$datetime+=60*60;endif;
return gmdate('m-d-Y - h:i:sa',strtotime($zone,$datetime));
}
?>
$datetime would be the information pulled from the database from a post for news, forums, etcetera (remember, the inserted table data for the time was using time();)
$zone would be the information pulled from the database from the users timezone preference.
I also used cookies to store their timezone:
$sth=mysql_query("SELECT `datetime` FROM `table` LIMIT 1");
$row=mysql_fetch_assoc($sth);
echo datetime($row['datetime'],$_COOKIE['timezone']);
Remember to set the 'm-d-Y - h:i:sa' to how you wish the time to display. Visit the manual about date().
ncofreNOSPAMPLEASE at step2u dot com
20-May-2005 01:21
20-May-2005 01:21
Want to put different International Times in your web?
First create a database including the GMT and the DST (find it f.i. at timeanddate.com). Be careful, because there are several different DST dates and options.
Once you have your function which calculates the GMT hour difference (it can be a decimal!!), sum it to the Unix Time (remember that unix time is GMT, not local: f.i. gmdate("U")===date("U)).
Don't forget to recalculate the GMT difference to seconds before it.
Then format your date using gmdate() (not date()!) and... you've got your International Time!
<?php
$city["Name"] = "Barcelona";
$city["GMT"] = 1.0;
$city["actualDST"] = 1.0; //Because it's summer time
$gmt_diff = $city["GMT"]+$city["actualDST"]; //your functions for getting the hour difference betweer the city and the GMT
$city_time = time()+($gmt_diff*3600); //sum the timestamps
echo gmdate("H:i",$city_time); //echo the formatted date
echo " h. in the beautiful city of ".$city["Name"];
?>
Kogik inc dot -- info at kogik dot com
08-Jul-2004 11:35
08-Jul-2004 11:35
Wath out for summer time and winter time...
If you want to get the current date and time based on GMT you could use this :
<?php
$timezone = -5; //(GMT -5:00) EST (U.S. & Canada)
echo gmdate("Y/m/j H:i:s", time() + 3600*($timezone+date("I")));
?>
this would gives: 2004/07/8 14:35:19 in summer time
and 2004/07/8 13:35:19 in winter time.
Note that date("I") returns 1 in summer and 0 in winter.
www.l-serwis.wpt.pl
13-Nov-2003 10:51
13-Nov-2003 10:51
If you want to get time in your timezone try this:
<?php
$zone=3600*0 //GMT
$zone=3600*1 //CET
$zone=3600*-5//USA
$date=gmdate("D M Y H:i", time() + $zone);
?>
08-Sep-2002 06:26
Do not use the "T" timezone specifier to generate "GMT", as this may return "UTC" or "GMT+0000" or "Z" or something else which depends on the running platform, which would not be RFC1123 compliant.
Use 'D, d M Y H:i:s \G\M\T' which forces the value of the timezone indicator.
Note that RFC1123 requires the use of ENGLISH day and month abbreviations. They MUST NOT be localized!
An example of the RFC1123 format for full dates is:
Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT
Note the presence of the leading 0 (RFC1123 dates have a fixed size, and space padding is prohibited because it causes problems with fixed size handling when such dates are used in HTTP headers that may compress whitespaces.
Some proxies accept also the ISO 8601 format, but this is not documented in HTTP/1.1 specs (RFC2616).
Examples:
<?php
header('Date: '.gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s \G\M\T', time()));
header('Last-Modified: '.gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s \G\M\T', time()));
header('Expires: '.gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s \G\M\T', time() + 3600));
?>
or if you prefer double quotes and don't want to bother with double backslashes:
<?php
header("Date: ".gmdate("D, d M Y H:i:s", time())." GMT");
header("Last-Modified: ".gmdate("D, d M Y H:i:s", time())." GMT");;
header("Expires: ".gmdate("D, d M Y H:i:s", time() + 3600)." GMT");
?>
15-Jun-2002 05:09
For an RFC 1123 (HTTP header date) date, try:
<?php
$rfc_1123_date = gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s T', time());
?>