PHP Manual: Returns new DateTime object

Description

Object oriented style

public DateTime::__construct ([ string $time = "now" [, DateTimeZone $timezone = NULL ]] )

Procedural style

DateTime date_create ([ string $time = "now" [, DateTimeZone $timezone = NULL ]] )

Returns new DateTime object.

Parameters

time

A date/time string. Valid formats are explained in Date and Time Formats.

Enter NULL here to obtain the current time when using the $timezone parameter.

timezone

A DateTimeZone object representing the timezone of $time.

If $timezone is omitted, the current timezone will be used.

Note:
The $timezone parameter and the current timezone are ignored when the $time parameter either is a UNIX timestamp (e.g. @946684800) or specifies a timezone (e.g. 2010-01-28T15:00:00+02:00).

Return Values

Returns a new DateTime instance. Procedural style returns FALSE on failure.

Errors/Exceptions

Emits Exception in case of an error.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.3.0	If `time` contains an invalid date/time format, then an exception is now thrown. Previously an error was emitted.

Examples

Example #1 DateTime::__construct example

Object oriented style


<?php
try {
    $date = new DateTime('2000-01-01');
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
    exit(1);
}

echo $date->format('Y-m-d');
?>

Procedural style


<?php
$date = date_create('2000-01-01');
if (!$date) {
    $e = date_get_last_errors();
    foreach ($e['errors'] as $error) {
        echo "$error\n";
    }
    exit(1);
}

echo date_format($date, 'Y-m-d');
?>

The above examples will output:

2000-01-01

Example #2 Intricacies of DateTime::__construct


<?php
// Specified date/time in your computer's time zone.
$date = new DateTime('2000-01-01');
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Specified date/time in the specified time zone.
$date = new DateTime('2000-01-01', new DateTimeZone('Pacific/Nauru'));
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Current date/time in your computer's time zone.
$date = new DateTime();
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Current date/time in the specified time zone.
$date = new DateTime(null, new DateTimeZone('Pacific/Nauru'));
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Using a UNIX timestamp.  Notice the result is in the UTC time zone.
$date = new DateTime('@946684800');
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Non-existent values roll over.
$date = new DateTime('2000-02-30');
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

2000-01-01 00:00:00-05:00
2000-01-01 00:00:00+12:00
2010-04-24 10:24:16-04:00
2010-04-25 02:24:16+12:00
2000-01-01 00:00:00+00:00
2000-03-01 00:00:00-05:00

DateTime::__construct

date_create