convert mysql timestamp into actual date and time?

Question

I have dates stored in a mysql table, they are set to store as CURRENT TIMESTAMP in each row and are stored as follows:

2010-05-29 01:17:35

Answer 1

You have two solutions :

• Use strtotime() to parse the date to a timestamp, and date() to re-format it to a string
• Or use the DateTime class

In PHP code, this would mean using :

echo date('M j Y g:i A', strtotime('2010-05-29 01:17:35'));

Or :

$dt = new DateTime('2010-05-29 01:17:35');
echo $dt->format('M j Y g:i A');

strtotime + date is the solution you'll see used the most ; but it is not the best solution : with those, you'll work on UNIX Timestamps, which means a limited range of dates (from 1970 to 2038, if using 32 bits integers).

ON the other hand, using the DateTime class, there will be no limit to the range of dates you can work with.