strftime

(PHP 3, PHP 4 )

strftime --  Format a local time/date according to locale settings

Description

string strftime ( string format [, int timestamp])

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().

The following conversion specifiers are recognized in the format string:

Note: Not all conversion specifiers may be supported by your C library, in which case they will not be supported by PHP's strftime(). This means that e.g. %e, %T, %R and %D (there might be more) will not work on Windows.

Example 1. strftime() locale examples

setlocale (LC_TIME, "C");
print (strftime ("%A in Finnish is "));
setlocale (LC_TIME, "fi_FI");
print (strftime ("%A, in French "));
setlocale (LC_TIME, "fr_FR");
print (strftime ("%A and in German "));
setlocale (LC_TIME, "de_DE");
print (strftime ("%A.\n"));
This example works if you have the respective locales installed in your system.

Note: %G and %V, which are based on ISO 8601:1988 week numbers can give unexpected (albiet correct) results if the numbering system is not thoroughly understood. See %V above and example below.

Example 2. ISO 8601:1988 week number example

<?php
/*     December 2002 / January 2003
ISOWk  M   Tu  W   Thu F   Sa  Su
----- ----------------------------
51     16  17  18  19  20  21  22 
52     23  24  25  26  27  28  29
1      30  31   1   2   3   4   5
2       6   7   8   9  10  11  12
3      13  14  15  16  17  18  19   */

// Outputs: 12/28/2002 - %V,%G,%Y = 52,2002,2002
print "12/28/2002 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("12/28/2002")) . "\n";

// Outputs: 12/30/2002 - %V,%G,%Y = 1,2003,2002
print "12/30/2002 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("12/30/2002")) . "\n";

// Outputs: 1/3/2003 - %V,%G,%Y = 1,2003,2003
print "1/3/2003 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("1/3/2003")) . "\n";

// Outputs: 1/10/2003 - %V,%G,%Y = 2,2003,2003
print "1/10/2003 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("1/10/2003")) . "\n";



/*     December 2004 / January 2005
ISOWk  M   Tu  W   Thu F   Sa  Su
----- ----------------------------
51     13  14  15  16  17  18  19
52     20  21  22  23  24  25  26
53     27  28  29  30  31   1   2
1       3   4   5   6   7   8   9
2      10  11  12  13  14  15  16   */

// Outputs: 12/23/2004 - %V,%G,%Y = 52,2004,2004
print "12/23/2004 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("12/23/2004")) . "\n";

// Outputs: 12/31/2004 - %V,%G,%Y = 53,2004,2004
print "12/31/2004 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("12/31/2004")) . "\n";

// Outputs: 1/2/2005 - %V,%G,%Y = 53,2004,2005
print "1/2/2005 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("1/2/2005")) . "\n";

// Outputs: 1/3/2005 - %V,%G,%Y = 1,2005,2005
print "1/3/2005 - %V,%G,%Y = " . strftime("%V,%G,%Y",strtotime("1/3/2005")) . "\n";

?>

See also setlocale() and mktime() and the Open Group specification of strftime().