#44163 [Bgs->Opn]: Addition of more useful date time functions

ID: 44163 Updated by: derick@php.net Reported By: cool_lim_lp at yahoo dot com dot sg -Status: Bogus +Status: Open Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Operating System: any PHP Version: 5.2.5 New Comment: Rasmus, most of the functions in the date() comments actually don't work, so we can use something like this. I am hoping to manage to get it into PHP 5.3. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-02-19 05:59:03] rasmus@php.net Right, date_diff would be useful, but date addition and the ability to get individual date parts are there already in date_modify() and date_parse(). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-02-19 05:46:46] cool_lim_lp at yahoo dot com dot sg look at the user notes at : http://sg2.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php see how many people have to write their own functions to do even simple date calculations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-02-19 05:26:06] cool_lim_lp at yahoo dot com dot sg ok, tell me how do you calculate the no. of days difference between two given dates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-02-19 05:10:26] rasmus@php.net That's already there. Please see the date_modify() function in the manual. Also see date_parse(). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-02-19 05:05:55] cool_lim_lp at yahoo dot com dot sg Description: ------------ Is it possible to add more useful functions like date substraction and date addition and the ability to get individual date parts? For example, to get a date part, we have to do something like $datetime = new DateTime ('12 jan 2008'); $day = (int)$datetime->format('d'); We have to convert an internally stored int to a string and then back to an int again, duh. Why not simply introduce a 'getDay' function? $day = $datetime->getDay(); $year = $datetime->getYear(); Subtraction of two dates: First, we have to convert the datetime object to a UNIX timestamp, which has a very limited range and then perform some maths on this timestamp itself. It is very tedious and troublesome. for example to calculate the age of a person: $now = new DateTime ('now'); $dob = new DateTime ('19 jan 1955'); you have to first convert to a UNIX timestamp, but the dob is out of the range allowed. Or you could use date_parse to get some info and then perform some lengthy maths to calculate the age. Sometimes we also need to know the amount of time that has elapsed between two dates in terms of hours, minutes, seconds, years, or months etc. But currently, there is no easy way to calculate that using PHP 's built-in functions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=44163&edit=1