+ + +

Date Helper

+ +

The Date Helper file contains functions that help you work with dates.

+ + +

Loading this Helper

+ +

This helper is loaded using the following code:

+$this->load->helper('date'); + + +

The following functions are available:

+ +

now()

+ +

Returns the current time as a Unix timestamp, referenced either to your server's local time or GMT, based on the "time reference" +setting in your config file. If you do not intend to set your master time reference to GMT (which you'll typically do if you +run a site that lets each user set their own timezone settings) there is no benefit to using this function over PHP's time() function. +

+ + + + +

mdate()

+ +

This function is identical to PHPs date() function, except that it lets you +use MySQL style date codes, where each code letter is preceded with a percent sign: %Y %m %d etc.

+ +

The benefit of doing dates this way is that you don't have to worry about escaping any characters that +are not date codes, as you would normally have to do with the date() function. Example:

+ +

$datestring = "Year: %Y Month: %m Day: %d - %h:%i %a";

+$time = time();

+

+echo mdate($datestring, $time);

+ +

If a timestamp is not included in the second parameter the current time will be used.

+ + +

local_to_gmt()

+ +

Takes a Unix timestamp as input and returns it as GMT. Example:

+ +

$now = time();

+

+$gmt = local_to_gmt($now);

+ + +

gmt_to_local()

+ +

Takes a Unix timestamp (referenced to GMT) as input, and converts it to a localized timestamp based on the +timezone and Daylight Saving time submitted. Example:

+ +


+$timestamp = '1140153693';

+$timezone  = 'UM8';

+$daylight_saving = TRUE;

+

+echo gmt_to_local($timestamp, $timezone, daylight_saving);

+ +

Note: For a list of timezones see the reference at the bottom of this page.

+ +

mysql_to_unix()

+ +

Takes a MySQL Timestamp as input and returns it as Unix. Example:

+ +

$mysql = '20061124092345';

+

+$unix = mysql_to_unix($mysql);

+ + +

unix_to_human()

+ +

Takes a Unix timestamp as input and returns it in a human readable format with this prototype:

+ +YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS AM/PM + +

This can be useful if you need to display a date in a form field for submission.

+ +

The time can be formatted with or without seconds, and it can be set to European or US format. If only +the timestamp is submitted it will return the time without seconds formatted for the U.S. Examples: + +$now = time(); + +echo unix_to_human($now); // U.S. time, no seconds + +echo unix_to_human($now, TRUE, 'us'); // U.S. time with seconds + +echo unix_to_human($now, TRUE, 'eu'); // Euro time with seconds + + +

human_to_unix()

+ +

The opposite of the above function. Takes a "human" time as input and returns it as Unix. This function is +useful if you accept "human" formatted dates submitted via a form. Returns FALSE (boolean) if +the date string passed to it is not formatted as indicated above. Example:

+ +

$now = time();

+

+$human = unix_to_human($now);

+

+$unix = human_to_unix($human);

+ + + + + +

timespan()

+ +

Formats a unix timestamp so that is appears similar to this:

+ +1 Year, 10 Months, 2 Weeks, 5 Days, 10 Hours, 16 Minutes + +

The first parameter must contain a Unix timestamp. The second parameter must contain a +timestamp that is greater that the first timesamp. If the second parameter empty, the current time will be used. The most common purpose +for this function is to show how much time has elapsed from some point in time in the past to now. Example:

+ +

$post_date = '1079621429';

+$now = time();

+

+echo timespan($post_date, $now);

+ +

Note: The text generated by this function is found in the following language file: language/<your_lang>/date_lang.php

+ + +

days_in_month()

+ +

Returns the number of days in a given month/year. Takes leap years into account. Example:

+echo days_in_month(06, 2005); + +

If the second parameter is empty, the current year will be used.

+ + + +

timezone_menu()

+ +

Generates a pull-down menu of timezones, like this one:

+ +

This menu is useful if you run a membership site in which your users are allowed to set their local timezone value.

+ +

The first paramater lets you set the "selected" state of the menu. For example, to set Pacific time as the default you will do this:

+ +echo timezone_menu('UM8'); + +

Please see the timezone reference below to see the values of this menu.

+ +

The second parameter lets you set a CSS class name for the menu.

+ +

Note: The text contained in the menu is found in the following language file: language/<your_lang>/date_lang.php

+ + + +

Timezone Reference

+ +

The following table indicates each timezone and its location.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Time Zone	Location
UM12	(UTC - 12:00) Enitwetok, Kwajalien
UM11	(UTC - 11:00) Nome, Midway Island, Samoa
UM10	(UTC - 10:00) Hawaii
UM9	(UTC - 9:00) Alaska
UM8	(UTC - 8:00) Pacific Time
UM7	(UTC - 7:00) Mountain Time
UM6	(UTC - 6:00) Central Time, Mexico City
UM5	(UTC - 5:00) Eastern Time, Bogota, Lima, Quito
UM4	(UTC - 4:00) Atlantic Time, Caracas, La Paz
UM25	(UTC - 3:30) Newfoundland
UM3	(UTC - 3:00) Brazil, Buenos Aires, Georgetown, Falkland Is.
UM2	(UTC - 2:00) Mid-Atlantic, Ascention Is., St Helena
UM1	(UTC - 1:00) Azores, Cape Verde Islands
(UTC	(UTC) Casablanca, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Lisbon, Monrovia
UP1	(UTC + 1:00) Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Rome
UP2	(UTC + 2:00) Kaliningrad, South Africa, Warsaw
UP3	(UTC + 3:00) Baghdad, Riyadh, Moscow, Nairobi
UP25	(UTC + 3:30) Tehran
UP4	(UTC + 4:00) Adu Dhabi, Baku, Muscat, Tbilisi
UP35	(UTC + 4:30) Kabul
UP5	(UTC + 5:00) Islamabad, Karachi, Tashkent
UP45	(UTC + 5:30) Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, New Delhi
UP6	(UTC + 6:00) Almaty, Colomba, Dhakra
UP7	(UTC + 7:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta
UP8	(UTC + 8:00) Beijing, Hong Kong, Perth, Singapore, Taipei
UP9	(UTC + 9:00) Osaka, Sapporo, Seoul, Tokyo, Yakutsk
UP85	(UTC + 9:30) Adelaide, Darwin
UP10	(UTC + 10:00) Melbourne, Papua New Guinea, Sydney, Vladivostok
UP11	(UTC + 11:00) Magadan, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands
UP12	(UTC + 12:00) Auckland, Wellington, Fiji, Marshall Island

+ + +

Code Igniter User Guide Version 1.4.0

Date Helper

Loading this Helper

now()

mdate()

local_to_gmt()

gmt_to_local()

mysql_to_unix()

unix_to_human()

human_to_unix()

timespan()

days_in_month()

timezone_menu()

Timezone Reference