strptime

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.0, PHP 7, PHP 8)

strptime Parse a time/date generated with strftime()

Warning

This function has been DEPRECATED as of PHP 8.1.0. Relying on this function is highly discouraged.

Description

strptime(string $timestamp, string $format): array|false

strptime() returns an array with the timestamp parsed, or false on error.

Month and weekday names and other language dependent strings respect the current locale set with setlocale() (LC_TIME).

Parameters

timestamp (string)

The string to parse (e.g. returned from strftime()).

format (string)

The format used in timestamp (e.g. the same as used in strftime()). Note that some of the format options available to strftime() may not have any effect within strptime(); the exact subset that are supported will vary based on the operating system and C library in use.

For more information about the format options, read the strftime() page.

Return Values

Returns an array or false on failure.

The following parameters are returned in the array
parameters Description
"tm_sec" Seconds after the minute (0-61)
"tm_min" Minutes after the hour (0-59)
"tm_hour" Hour since midnight (0-23)
"tm_mday" Day of the month (1-31)
"tm_mon" Months since January (0-11)
"tm_year" Years since 1900
"tm_wday" Days since Sunday (0-6)
"tm_yday" Days since January 1 (0-365)
"unparsed" the timestamp part which was not recognized using the specified format

Changelog

Version Description
8.1.0 This function has been deprecated. Use date_parse_from_format() instead (for locale-independent parsing), or IntlDateFormatter::parse() (for locale-dependent parsing)

Examples

Example #1 strptime() example

<?php
$format
= '%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S';
$strf = strftime($format);

echo
"$strf\n";

print_r(strptime($strf, $format));
?>

The above example will output something similar to:

03/10/2004 15:54:19

Array
(
    [tm_sec] => 19
    [tm_min] => 54
    [tm_hour] => 15
    [tm_mday] => 3
    [tm_mon] => 9
    [tm_year] => 104
    [tm_wday] => 0
    [tm_yday] => 276
    [unparsed] =>
)

Notes

Note: This function is not implemented on Windows platforms.

Note:

Internally, this function calls the strptime() function provided by the system's C library. This function can exhibit noticeably different behaviour across different operating systems. The use of date_parse_from_format(), which does not suffer from these issues, is recommended.

Note:

"tm_sec" includes any leap seconds (currently upto 2 a year). For more information on leap seconds, see the » Wikipedia article on leap seconds.

See Also

add a note add a note

User Contributed Notes 13 notes

up
4
P.
16 years ago
If strptime() fails to match all of the format string and therefore an error occurred the function returns NULL.
up
7
131
12 years ago
Another portage for windows (from ex/yks toolkit)
<?php
//  public static
function strptime($date, $format) {
   
$masks = array(
     
'%d' => '(?P<d>[0-9]{2})',
     
'%m' => '(?P<m>[0-9]{2})',
     
'%Y' => '(?P<Y>[0-9]{4})',
     
'%H' => '(?P<H>[0-9]{2})',
     
'%M' => '(?P<M>[0-9]{2})',
     
'%S' => '(?P<S>[0-9]{2})',
    
// usw..
   
);

   
$rexep = "#".strtr(preg_quote($format), $masks)."#";
    if(!
preg_match($rexep, $date, $out))
      return
false;

   
$ret = array(
     
"tm_sec"  => (int) $out['S'],
     
"tm_min"  => (int) $out['M'],
     
"tm_hour" => (int) $out['H'],
     
"tm_mday" => (int) $out['d'],
     
"tm_mon"  => $out['m']?$out['m']-1:0,
     
"tm_year" => $out['Y'] > 1900 ? $out['Y'] - 1900 : 0,
    );
    return
$ret;
  }
?>
up
3
peter at removethisplease dot ddcrew dot com
9 years ago
emanuil's comment / mktime() example is wrong, in that his mktime() line should have $ts['tm_mon'] + 1 because strptime() returns the months zero-based, while mktime() expects it one-based.
up
2
svenr at selfhtml dot org
17 years ago
If you need strptime but are restricted to a php version which does not support it (windows or before PHP 5), note that MySQL since Version 4.1.1 offers (almost?) the same functionality with the STR_TO_DATE function.

See http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/date-and-time-functions.html
up
2
Malte Starostik
17 years ago
It says "Parse a time/date generated with strftime()" but that's not entirely correct -- While strptime("2006131", "%Y%W%u") works as expected, strptime("2006131", "%G%V%u") returns false instead of reversing the equivalent - and unambiguous - strftime() usage.  I suspect that's because glibc doesn't support that.  Anyway, this docu page fails to mention that apparently not all format components supported by strftime() can be used with strptime().
up
1
arnold at nijboer dot it
10 years ago
the example (or the function) has an inconsistancy with other PHP functions.

the example returns 104 for the year 2004

while in the strftime function the 2 digit year is 70-100 for 1970-2000
and 1-69 for 2001-2069
up
1
Quietust
15 years ago
On some systems, particularly those of BSD lineage (such as FreeBSD and MacOS X), the tm_wday and tm_yday fields are only initialized if requested explicitly (that is, if the %a/%A/%u/%w and %j formats are specified), while others such as Linux and Solaris will calculate them automatically.
up
1
jojyjob at gmail dot com
17 years ago
/***Finding the days of a week ***/

<?php

$out
= pre(); 
$outpre=nextweek();
$td=date("Y-m-d");
$result = array_reverse($outpre);
//print_r($result);
array_push($result,$td);
$newarray = array_merge($result,$out);

  foreach(
$newarray as $date1){
    echo
$date1;
    echo
"<br>";
}

//print_r($out);
//print_r($newarray);

function pre() 
{
$monP=0;
$tueP=1;
$wedP=2;
$thuP=3;
$friP=4;
$satP=5;
$sunP=6;
 
$td=date("Y-m-d");  
//echo $td;
$tdname=date("l"); 
  switch(
$tdname)
  {
   case
"Monday":
      
$rep=$monP;
       break;
   case
"Tuesday":
      
$rep=$tueP;
       break;
   case
"Wednesday":
      
$rep=$wedP;
       break;
   case
"Thursday":
      
$rep=$thuP;
       break;
   case
"Friday":
      
$rep=$friP;
       break;
   case
"Saturday":
      
$rep=$satP;      
       break;
   case
"Sunday":
      
$rep=$sunP;      
       break;      
   default:
       echo
"Sorry";      
  }


//echo $tdname."<br>";  
//echo $rep;
$datstart =$td/* the starting date */
//$rep = 12;  /* number of future dates to display */
$nod = 1/* number of days in the future to increment the date */
$nom = 0/* number of months in the future to increment the date */
$noy = 0/* number of years in the future to increment the date */
$precon=future_date($datstart,$rep,$nod,$nom,$noy);
return
$precon;
}
function
future_date($datstart,$rep,$nod,$nom,$noy) {
$pre = array();
  while (
$rep >= 1) {
   
$datyy=substr($datstart,0,4);
   
$datmm=substr($datstart,5,2);
   
$datdd=substr($datstart,8,2);
   
$fda=$datdd - $nod;
   
$fmo=$datmm - $nom;
   
$fyr=$datyy -$noy;
   
$dat1=date("Y-m-d", mktime(0,0,0,$fmo,$fda,$fyr))."<BR>";
   
array_push($pre,$dat1);
   
//echo $dat1;
   
$datstart=$dat1;
   
$rep--;
  }
  return
$pre;
}

function
nextweek()
{
$monN=6;
$tueN=5;
$wedN=4;
$thuN=3;
$friN=2;
$satN=1;
$sunN=0;

$td=date("Y-m-d");  
$tdname=date("l"); 
  switch(
$tdname)
  {
   case
"Monday":
      
$rep=$monN;
       break;
   case
"Tuesday":
      
$rep=$tueN;
       break;
   case
"Wednesday":
      
$rep=$wedN;
       break;
   case
"Thursday":
      
$rep=$thuN;
       break;
   case
"Friday":
      
$rep=$friN;
       break;
   case
"Saturday":
      
$rep=$satN;      
       break;
   case
"Sunday":
      
$rep=$sunN;      
       break;      
   default:
       echo
"Sorry";      
  }


//echo $tdname."<br>";  
//echo $rep;
$datstart =$td/* the starting date */
//$rep = 12;  /* number of future dates to display */
$nod = 1/* number of days in the future to increment the date */
$nom = 0/* number of months in the future to increment the date */
$noy = 0/* number of years in the future to increment the date */

$con = future_date1($datstart,$rep,$nod,$nom,$noy);
return
$con;
}

function
future_date1($datstart,$rep,$nod,$nom,$noy) {
$pre = array();
  while (
$rep >= 1) {
   
$datyy=substr($datstart,0,4);
   
$datmm=substr($datstart,5,2);
   
$datdd=substr($datstart,8,2);
   
$fda=$datdd + $nod;
   
$fmo=$datmm + $nom;
   
$fyr=$datyy + $noy;
   
$dat1=date("Y-m-d", mktime(0,0,0,$fmo,$fda,$fyr))."<BR>";
   
array_push($pre,$dat1);
   
//echo $dat1;
   
$datstart=$dat1;
   
$rep--;
  }
  return
$pre;
}

?>
up
0
emanuil dot tolev at gmail dot com
11 years ago
Be careful: the output of strptime() ( http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.strptime.php ) cannot always be used with mktime() ( http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.mktime.php )!

This is not because of what platform you're using or what format strings glibc supports. This is simply because strptime returns years SINCE 1900 (as documented above) and mktime expects a year in the format returned by date('Y') - which is the full 4 digits.

Therefore, if you parse a date with strptime and want to give it to mktime, you have to pass in ($parsed_time['tm_year'] + 1900) as the year parameter to mktime(), not just $parsed_time['tm_year'].

This issue arose when I had a date like: 19/06/2012 12:03:34. strtotime() doesn't parse this particular format, so I needed custom parsing. So I ended up with:
1. $ts = $service->getNeededDateTime();
2. $ts = strptime($ts, '%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S');
3. $ts = mktime($ts['tm_hour'], $ts['tm_min'], $ts['tm_sec'],
      $ts['tm_mon'], $ts['tm_mday'], ($ts['tm_year'] + 1900));
up
0
Altar 2010
15 years ago
If you want to parse a date or a /time in windows env, i re-write strptime function for windows.

I use the same param and i return the same think that the original one.
I use sscanf to parde the string.
Only some format can be parsed (%S, %M, %H, %d, %m, %Y)

See this page (because the function is too big for this notes)
http://sauron.lionel.free.fr/?page=php_lib_strptime

preview :
<?php
/**
* Parse a time/date generated with strftime().
*
* This function is the same as the original one defined by PHP (Linux/Unix only),
*  but now you can use it on Windows too.
*  Limitation : Only this format can be parsed %S, %M, %H, %d, %m, %Y
*
* @author Lionel SAURON
* @version 1.0
* @public
*
* @param $sDate(string)    The string to parse (e.g. returned from strftime()).
* @param $sFormat(string)  The format used in date  (e.g. the same as used in strftime()).
* @return (array)          Returns an array with the <code>$sDate</code> parsed, or <code>false</code> on error.
*/
if(function_exists("strptime") == false)
{
    function
strptime($sDate, $sFormat)
    {
       
$aResult = array
        (
           
'tm_sec'   => 0,
           
'tm_min'   => 0,
           
'tm_hour'  => 0,
           
'tm_mday'  => 1,
           
'tm_mon'   => 0,
           
'tm_year'  => 0,
           
'tm_wday'  => 0,
           
'tm_yday'  => 0,
           
'unparsed' => $sDate,
        );
       
        while(
$sFormat != "")
        {
           
// ===== Search a %x element, Check the static string before the %x =====
           
$nIdxFound = strpos($sFormat, '%');
            if(
$nIdxFound === false)
            {
               
               
// There is no more format. Check the last static string.
               
$aResult['unparsed'] = ($sFormat == $sDate) ? "" : $sDate;
                break;
            }
       
        .....
        .....
        .....
        .....
       
       
// ===== Create the other value of the result array =====
       
$nParsedDateTimestamp = mktime($aResult['tm_hour'], $aResult['tm_min'], $aResult['tm_sec'],
                               
$aResult['tm_mon'] + 1, $aResult['tm_mday'], $aResult['tm_year'] + 1900);
       
       
// Before PHP 5.1 return -1 when error
       
if(($nParsedDateTimestamp === false)
        ||(
$nParsedDateTimestamp === -1)) return false;
       
       
$aResult['tm_wday'] = (int) strftime("%w", $nParsedDateTimestamp); // Days since Sunday (0-6)
       
$aResult['tm_yday'] = (strftime("%j", $nParsedDateTimestamp) - 1); // Days since January 1 (0-365)

       
return $aResult;
    }
// END of function
   
} // END if(function_exists("strptime") == false)
?>
up
0
chad 0x40 herballure 0x2e com
16 years ago
The result of strptime() is not affected by the current timezone setting, even though strftime() is. Tested in PHP 5.1.6.
up
0
DT <pwadas at gazeta dot pl>
17 years ago
<?php
//This turns non-standard but often used "datetime" string
//like '20060810084251' into nice formatted date
//'Thursday, 10 August 2006 08:42:51 CEST'
//note, that strptime returns day of year counting from 0, so
//you need to put 1 as month number to get appropriate
//month for the daycount. for 2006 strptime for unknown
//reason returns 106, so I simply add 1900

$informat = '%Y%m%d%H%M%S';
$outformat '%A, %d %B %Y %T %Z';
$ftime = strptime("20060810084251",$informat);
$unxTimestamp = mktime(
                   
$ftime['tm_hour'],
                   
$ftime['tm_min'],
                   
$ftime['tm_sec'],
                   
1 ,
                   
$ftime['tm_yday'] + 1,
                  
$ftime['tm_year'] + 1900
                
);
//setlocale(LC_TIME,'pl_PL');
echo strftime($outformat , $unxTimestamp );
?>
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-1
firefox3107 at gmail dot com
15 years ago
For Windows user! It's rather the same as strptime!
It uses the previous function: but call strToTime($date, $format) to strToDate($date, $format) because this name is forgiven!

<?php
function strToDateTime($date, $format) {
    if(!(
$date = strToDate($date, $format))) return;
   
$dateTime = array('sec' => 0, 'min' => 0, 'hour' => 0, 'day' => 0, 'mon' => 0, 'year' => 0, 'timestamp' => 0);
    foreach(
$date as $key => $val) {
        switch(
$key) {
            case
'd':
            case
'j': $dateTime['day'] = intval($val); break;
            case
'D': $dateTime['day'] = intval(date('j', $val)); break;
           
            case
'm':
            case
'n': $dateTime['mon'] = intval($val); break;
            case
'M': $dateTime['mon'] = intval(date('n', $val)); break;
           
            case
'Y': $dateTime['year'] = intval($val); break;
            case
'y': $dateTime['year'] = intval($val)+2000; break;
           
            case
'G':
            case
'g':
            case
'H':
            case
'h': $dateTime['hour'] = intval($val); break;
           
            case
'i': $dateTime['min'] = intval($val); break;
           
            case
's': $dateTime['sec'] = intval($val); break;
        }
    }
   
$dateTime['timestamp'] = mktime($dateTime['hour'], $dateTime['min'], $dateTime['sec'], $dateTime['mon'], $dateTime['day'], $dateTime['year']);
    return
$dateTime;
}
?>
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