How to Convert a String Date to PHP Date and DateTime Objects?

Converting Date and Time Representations

Converting a string representation of a date (e.g., "10-16-2003" in mm-dd-YYYY format) to both a basic Date and a more detailed DateTime can be accomplished in PHP.

Converting to Date:

To convert the string to a PHP Date object (preserving the original format), use the following code:

$date = new DateTime('10-16-2003');

Converting to DateTime:

To convert the Date object to a DateTime object and format it in YYYY-mm-dd format, perform the following steps:

1. Create a timestamp using strtotime():

$timestamp = strtotime($date->format('m/d/Y'));

2. Convert the timestamp to a DateTime object:

$dateTime = new DateTime();
$dateTime->setTimestamp($timestamp);

3. Format the DateTime object in the desired format:

$newFormat = $dateTime->format('Y-m-d');

This will result in the following formatted string:

2003-10-16

Additional Note:

When using the strtotime() function, pay attention to the separator used between the date components. A slash (/) indicates the American m/d/y format, while a hyphen (-) or dot (.) indicates the European d-m-y format. To avoid ambiguity, it is recommended to use ISO 8601 (YYYY-MM-DD) dates or the DateTime::createFromFormat() method for parsing dates.

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