PHP Manual

Description

Object oriented style

public DateTime::__construct() ([ string $time = "now" [, DateTimeZone $timezone = NULL ]] )

Procedural style

DateTime date_create ([ string $time = "now" [, DateTimeZone $timezone = NULL ]] )

Returns new DateTime object.

Parameters

time

A date/time string. Valid formats are explained in Date and Time Formats.

Enter NULL here to obtain the current time when using the $timezone parameter.

timezone

A DateTimeZone object representing the desired time zone.

If $timezone is omitted, the current timezone will be used.

Note:
The $timezone parameter and the current timezone are ignored when the $time parameter either is a UNIX timestamp (e.g. @946684800) or specifies a timezone (e.g. 2010-01-28T15:00:00+02:00).

Return Values

Returns a new DateTime instance. Procedural style returns FALSE on failure.

Errors/Exceptions

Emits Exception in case of an error.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.3.0	If an invalid date is specified, then an exception is now thrown. Previously an error was emitted.

Examples

Example #1 DateTime::__construct() example

Object oriented style


<?php
try {
    $date = new DateTime('2000-01-01');
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
    exit(1);
}

echo $date->format('Y-m-d');
?>

Procedural style


<?php
$date = date_create('2000-01-01');
if (!$date) {
    $e = date_get_last_errors();
    foreach ($e['errors'] as $error) {
        echo "$error\n";
    }
    exit(1);
}

echo date_format($date, 'Y-m-d');
?>

The above examples will output:

2000-01-01

Example #2 Intricacies of DateTime::__construct()


<?php
// Specified date/time in your computer's time zone.
$date = new DateTime('2000-01-01');
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Specified date/time in the specified time zone.
$date = new DateTime('2000-01-01', new DateTimeZone('Pacific/Nauru'));
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Current date/time in your computer's time zone.
$date = new DateTime();
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Current date/time in the specified time zone.
$date = new DateTime(null, new DateTimeZone('Pacific/Nauru'));
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Using a UNIX timestamp.  Notice the result is in the UTC time zone.
$date = new DateTime('@946684800');
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";

// Non-existant values roll over.
$date = new DateTime('2000-02-30');
echo $date->format('Y-m-d H:i:sP') . "\n";
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

2000-01-01 00:00:00-05:00
2000-01-01 00:00:00+12:00
2010-04-24 10:24:16-04:00
2010-04-25 02:24:16+12:00
2000-01-01 00:00:00+00:00
2000-03-01 00:00:00-05:00

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DateTime::__construct