PHP Function strftime()

Syntax

string strftime ( string $format [, int $timestamp] );

Definition and Usage

Returns a string formatted according to the given format string using the given timestamp or the current local time if no timestamp is given. Month and weekday names and other language dependent strings respect the current locale set with setlocale().

Paramters

Parameter	Description
format	required.Specifies how to return the result: %a - abbreviated weekday name %A - full weekday name %b - abbreviated month name %B - full month name %c - preferred date and time representation %C - century number (the year divided by 100, range 00 to 99) %d - day of the month (01 to 31) %D - same as %m/%d/%y %e - day of the month (1 to 31) %g - like %G, but without the century %G - 4-digit year corresponding to the ISO week number (see %V). %h - same as %b %H - hour, using a 24-hour clock (00 to 23) %I - hour, using a 12-hour clock (01 to 12) %j - day of the year (001 to 366) %m - month (01 to 12) %M - minute %n - newline character %p - either am or pm according to the given time value %r - time in a.m. and p.m. notation %R - time in 24 hour notation %S - second %t - tab character %T - current time, equal to %H:%M:%S %u - weekday as a number (1 to 7), Monday=1. Warning: In Sun Solaris Sunday=1 %U - week number of the current year, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of the first week %V - The ISO 8601 week number of the current year (01 to 53), where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week %W - week number of the current year, starting with the first Monday as the first day of the first week %w - day of the week as a decimal, Sunday=0 %x - preferred date representation without the time %X - preferred time representation without the date %y - year without a century (range 00 to 99) %Y - year including the century %Z or %z - time zone or name or abbreviation %% - a literal % character
timestamp	Optional. This is an integer Unix timestamp that defaults to the current local time if a timestamp is not given. In other words, it defaults to the value of time().

Parameter

Description

format

required.Specifies how to return the result:

%a - abbreviated weekday name
%A - full weekday name
%b - abbreviated month name
%B - full month name
%c - preferred date and time representation
%C - century number (the year divided by 100, range 00 to 99)
%d - day of the month (01 to 31)
%D - same as %m/%d/%y
%e - day of the month (1 to 31)
%g - like %G, but without the century
%G - 4-digit year corresponding to the ISO week number (see %V).
%h - same as %b
%H - hour, using a 24-hour clock (00 to 23)
%I - hour, using a 12-hour clock (01 to 12)
%j - day of the year (001 to 366)
%m - month (01 to 12)
%M - minute
%n - newline character
%p - either am or pm according to the given time value
%r - time in a.m. and p.m. notation
%R - time in 24 hour notation
%S - second
%t - tab character
%T - current time, equal to %H:%M:%S
%u - weekday as a number (1 to 7), Monday=1. Warning: In Sun Solaris Sunday=1
%U - week number of the current year, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of the first week
%V - The ISO 8601 week number of the current year (01 to 53), where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week
%W - week number of the current year, starting with the first Monday as the first day of the first week
%w - day of the week as a decimal, Sunday=0
%x - preferred date representation without the time
%X - preferred time representation without the date
%y - year without a century (range 00 to 99)
%Y - year including the century
%Z or %z - time zone or name or abbreviation
%% - a literal % character

timestamp

Optional. This is an integer Unix timestamp that defaults to the current local time if a timestamp is not given. In other words, it defaults to the value of time().

Return Value

Returns a string formatted according to the given format string using the given timestamp or the current local time if no timestamp is given.

Example

Following is the usage of this function:

<?php
setlocale(LC_TIME, 'en_US');
echo strftime("%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S",
               mktime(20, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2005)) . "\n";
echo gmstrftime("%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S",
               mktime(20, 0, 0, 12, 31, 2005)) . "\n";
?>

This will produce following result:

Dec 31 2005 20:00:00
Jan 01 2006 03:00:00