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    IntlDateFormatter::format

    datefmt_format

    (PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PHP 8, PECL intl >= 1.0.0)

    IntlDateFormatter::format -- datefmt_format — Format the date/time value as a string

    Description

    Object-oriented style

    public IntlDateFormatter::format(IntlCalendar|DateTimeInterface|array|string|int|float $datetime): string|false

    Procedural style

    datefmt_format(IntlDateFormatter $formatter, IntlCalendar|DateTimeInterface|array|string|int|float $datetime): string|false

    Formats the time value as a string.

    Parameters

    formatter

    The date formatter resource.

    datetime

    Value to format. This may be a DateTimeInterface object, an IntlCalendar object, a numeric type representing a (possibly fractional) number of seconds since epoch or an array in the format output by localtime().

    If a DateTime or an IntlCalendar object is passed, its timezone is not considered. The object will be formatted using the formaterʼs configured timezone. If one wants to use the timezone of the object to be formatted, IntlDateFormatter::setTimeZone() must be called before with the objectʼs timezone. Alternatively, the static function IntlDateFormatter::formatObject() may be used instead.

    Return Values

    The formatted string or, if an error occurred, false.

    Changelog

    Version Description
    7.1.5 Support for providing general DateTimeInterface objects to the datetime parameter was added. Formerly, only proper DateTime objects were supported.
    PECL intl 3.0.0 Support for providing IntlCalendar objects to the datetime parameter was added.

    Examples

    Example #1 datefmt_format() example

    <?php
    $fmt     = datefmt_create(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
    );
    echo     'First Formatted output is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);

    $fmt = datefmt_create(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
    );
    echo     'Second Formatted output is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);

    $fmt = datefmt_create(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
    );
    echo     'First Formatted output with pattern is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);

    $fmt = datefmt_create(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
    );
    echo     "Second Formatted output with pattern is " . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);
    ?>

    Example #2 OO example

    <?php
    $fmt     = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
    );
    echo     'First Formatted output is ' . $fmt->format(0);

    $fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
    );
    echo     'Second Formatted output is ' . $fmt->format(0);

    $fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
    );
    echo     'First Formatted output with pattern is ' . $fmt->format(0);

    $fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
    );
    echo     'Second Formatted output with pattern is ' . $fmt->format(0);
    ?>

    The above example will output:

    First Formatted output is Wednesday, December 31, 1969 4:00:00 PM PT
Second Formatted output is Mittwoch, 31. Dezember 1969 16:00 Uhr GMT-08:00
First Formatted output with pattern is 12/31/1969
Second Formatted output with pattern is 12/31/1969

    Example #3 With IntlCalendar object

    <?php
    $tz     = reset(iterator_to_array(IntlTimeZone::createEnumeration('FR')));
    $formatter = IntlDateFormatter::create(
    'fr_FR',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    $tz,
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
    );

    $cal = IntlCalendar::createInstance($tz, '@calendar=islamic-civil');
    $cal->set(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MONTH, 8); //9th month, Ramadan
    $cal->set(IntlCalendar::FIELD_DAY_OF_MONTH, 1); //1st day
    $cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_HOUR_OF_DAY);
    $cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MINUTE);
    $cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_SECOND);
    $cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MILLISECOND);

    echo     "In this islamic year, Ramadan started/will start on:\n\t",
    $formatter->format($cal), "\n";

    //Itʼs the formatterʼs timezone that is used:
    $formatter->setTimeZone('Asia/Tokyo');
    echo     "After changing timezone:\n\t",
    $formatter->format($cal), "\n";

    The above example will output:

    In this islamic year, Ramadan started/will start on:
    mardi 9 juillet 2013 19:00:00 heure avancée d’Europe centrale
After changing timezone:
    mercredi 10 juillet 2013 02:00:00 heure normale du Japon

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 4 notes

    up
    43
    mail dot dennisbecker at gmail dot com
    11 years ago
    You should know that PHPs IntlDateFormatter class uses ISO date format codes instead of PHPs date() format codes. It is not really clear mentioned from my point of view.

    A good list to find ISO codes is available at http://framework.zend.com/manual/1.12/en/zend.date.constants.html#zend.date.constants.selfdefinedformats and such a list should be added here, too.
    up
    13
    con at bartrail dot de
    13 years ago
    I hope this will save some time for others who have to struggle with different php versions on dev and prod plattform in the future:

    when formatting a DateTime object with a *custom pattern*, be sure to use a timestamp to pass at the IntlDateFormatter::format in order to have it working on different php versions:

    Example for PHP Version 5.3.5-1ubuntu7.2 (my dev machine):
    <?php
    $date     = new \DateTime();

    $dateFormatter = \IntlDateFormatter::create(
    \Locale::getDefault(),
    \IntlDateFormatter::NONE,
    \IntlDateFormatter::NONE,
    \date_default_timezone_get(),
    \IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'EEEE'
    );

    var_dump($dateFormatter->format($date)); // string(6) "Monday"
    ?>

    Example for PHP Version 5.3.2-1ubuntu4.9 (the prod server):
    <?php
    // same formatting as above

    var_dump($dateFormatter->format($date)); // bool(false)
    ?>

    When using $dateFormatter->format($date->getTimestamp()), you'll always get the formatted and localized string instead of a false.
    up
    0
    alex
    14 years ago
    It's important to note that a conversion of timezones will be made from the default timezone (date_default_timezone_set()) and the timezone you passed in the constructor (or datefmt_create()).

    If you are inserting the dates into your database as UTC time, make sure to set date_default_timezone_set to UTC as well (or any other timezone, but they need to be the same). Once you call ::format, you will get the converted time.
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