PHP Convert formatted date into unixtime

Question

I have dates in the format Y-M-D hour-minute-second 2013-09-03 12:10:28, but I need the unixtimestamp.

PHP has a slough of functions for transforming dates and times, but apprently none that can accept a date and its format and convert it into unixtime. The closest function I found was mktime(), but I would need to parse my current date into each of its components. Is there an easier way?

[`strtotime`](http://php.net/strtotime) can handle that format perfectly fine. — Niet the Dark Absol, Sep 03 '13 at 20:50
Forget strtotime(), date(), time() and similar functions. Start using DateTime class. Example: `echo (new DateTime('2013-09-03 12:10:28'))->getTimestamp()` — Glavić, Sep 03 '13 at 21:18

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:50

3

strtotime('2013-09-03 12:10:28');

answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:50

user1759572

683
4
11

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:54

2

<?php
$date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d H:i:s', '2013-09-03 12:10:28');
echo $date->getTimestamp();

IMHO it is better not to use strtotime() because it tries to guess a time format. I do not like any "magic" in programming.

answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:54

Alex

1,605
11
14

This is the best option as the format is explicit rather than implied. – Sammitch Sep 03 '13 at 20:57
Good if your date format is not dynamic one. – user1759572 Sep 03 '13 at 21:06
I agree with other types of format, but `yyyy-mm-dd H:i:s` is way too standard for "magic" to happen ;) If datetime is in [supported date and time formats](http://si1.php.net/datetime.formats) then you don't need to worry about "magic" happening. – Glavić Sep 03 '13 at 21:15

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:52

0

<?php
$str = '2013-09-03 12:10:28';
echo strtotime($str);

1378228228

answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:52

racerror

1,599
8
9

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:53

0

You may try strtotime

echo strtotime('2013-09-03 12:10:28'); // 1378210228

answered Sep 03 '13 at 20:53

The Alpha

143,660
29
287
307

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

0

<?php 
echo strtotime('1/1/2013');
?>

Output: 1356994800 -> Unixtimestamp

PHP Convert formatted date into unixtime

5 Answers5