php reg expression to check date format is correct

Question

I'm currently trying to find out if a date is in the format of YYYY-DD-MM.

In PHP, I've got this:

if (preg_match('(\d{4})(-)(\d{2})(-)(\d{2})$', $newDateOfBirth))

However I keep getting the following error:

Warning: preg_match(): Unknown modifier '(' in C:\webserver\webroot\index.php on line 105

Off-topic tip, I recommend using [mktime()](http://php.net/manual/en/function.mktime.php) or [checkdate()](http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.checkdate.php) to validate that the dates are valid. @mario you can edit comments instead of re-posting them. — kjetilh, Mar 10 '13 at 18:25

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 10 '13 at 18:20

1

You are missing the delimiters:

if (preg_match('~(\d{4})(-)(\d{2})(-)(\d{2})$~', $newDateOfBirth))

answered Mar 10 '13 at 18:20

1 Answers1