This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of converting a date to milliseconds in PHP. We'll cover the implementation of converting datetime to milliseconds, providing a detailed example to help you understand how to convert a date to milliseconds in PHP. Let's dive into the steps of converting datetime into milliseconds in PHP.
In this example, I will provide you with two simple examples along with their outputs, demonstrating how to convert datetime into milliseconds using PHP. Let's explore each example one by one:
Example 1: using DateTime()
In PHP, you can convert a date to milliseconds using the DateTime class. Here's an example:
index.php
<?php
/* Your date string */
$dateString = "2023-01-01 12:34:56";
/* Create a DateTime object */
$dateTime = new DateTime($dateString);
/* Get the timestamp in seconds */
$timestampInSeconds = $dateTime->getTimestamp();
/* Convert seconds to milliseconds */
$timestampInMilliseconds = $timestampInSeconds * 1000;
/* Output the result */
echo "Date in milliseconds: " . $timestampInMilliseconds;
?>
Output:
Date in milliseconds: 1672576496000
In this example, replace $dateString with your actual date string. The DateTime class is utilized to create a DateTime object, and getTimestamp() is employed to retrieve the timestamp in seconds. Subsequently, it is multiplied by 1000 to convert it to milliseconds.
Please note that the result will be based on the server's timezone if not explicitly set in the DateTime object. If you wish to set a specific timezone, you can utilize the setTimezone() method on the DateTime object.
Example 2: using strtotime()
If you prefer not to use the DateTime class, you can achieve the conversion to milliseconds using the strtotime function, which converts a human-readable date string to a Unix timestamp. Here's an example:
index.php
<?php
/* Your date string */
$dateString = "2023-01-01 12:34:56";
/* Convert date string to timestamp in seconds */
$timestampInSeconds = strtotime($dateString);
/* Convert seconds to milliseconds */
$timestampInMilliseconds = $timestampInSeconds * 1000;
/* Output the result */
echo "Date in milliseconds: " . $timestampInMilliseconds;
?>
Output:
Date in milliseconds: 1672576496000
In this example, replace $dateString with your actual date string. The strtotime function parses the date string and returns a Unix timestamp, which is then multiplied by 1000 to convert it to milliseconds.
Keep in mind that strtotime uses the system timezone. If you need to work with a specific timezone, you might still want to consider using the DateTime class with the setTimezone method or use the DateTimeImmutable class, which is more predictable in terms of timezones.
I hope this information proves helpful to you.
