How to create a php datetime object from this string

Question

I have datetime strings like these:

2015-02-13 22:00 GMT+1 -DST

2015-03-20 21:00 GMT-5 +DST

What I started to try:

<?php
    $date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d H:i ', '2015-03-20 21:00 GMT-5 +DST');
    echo $date->format('d-m-Y H:i');
?>

However I get stuck on the timezone and DST. I see on http://php.net/manual/en/datetime.createfromformat.php that I can use e, O, P and T for timezone, but I don't understand which character is representing what. Could I even use it directly like this? Do I have to convert that -5 to e.g. -0500? Then what character? And what to do with DST?

John Conde · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-21 21:30:32Z

4

That date string isn't common and has some unnecessary information in it (at the end). To parse it I just tell DateTime::createFromFormat() to ignore the GMT and +DST parts by using the + character. The O character is smart enough to handle -5 and convert it to -0500. If we don't ignore them the timezone is incorrect in the new DateTime object.

<?php
    $date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d H:i +O +', '2015-03-20 21:00 GMT-5 +DST');
    echo $date->format('d-m-Y H:i');

Demo

edited Feb 21, 2015 at 21:30

answered Feb 21, 2015 at 21:23

John Conde

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3 Comments

Arie Over a year ago

Thanks, but that doesn't seem to be getting the timezone right: eval.in/291852 - It does work like this: eval.in/291854 but then I have to remove the dst.

John Conde Over a year ago

Yep :) I wanted to be sure that timezone was correct in case it mattered to your project.

Arie Over a year ago

Thanks :) now I can just use the full original string.

maelswarm · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-21 20:53:08Z

1

I found this at http://php.net/manual/en/function.date.php. And yes I believe you can use it directly.

e - Timezone identifier (added in PHP 5.1.0) Examples: UTC, GMT, Atlantic/Azores

O - Difference to Greenwich time (GMT) in hours Example: +0200

P - Difference to Greenwich time (GMT) with colon between hours and minutes (added in PHP 5.1.3) Example: +02:00

T - Timezone abbreviation Examples: EST, MDT ...

edited Feb 21, 2015 at 20:53

answered Feb 21, 2015 at 20:41

maelswarm

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