PHP DateTime __construct() Failed to parse time string (xxxxxxxx) at position x

Question

I had this construction error when trying to creating a new DateTime object using a timestamp:

Exception: DateTime::_construct(): Failed to parse

Answer 1

This worked for me.

   /**
     * return date in specific format, given a timestamp.
     *
     * @param  timestamp  $datetime
     * @return string
     */
    public static function showDateString($timestamp)
    {
      if ($timestamp !== NULL) {
        $date = new DateTime();
        $date->setTimestamp(intval($timestamp));
        return $date->format("d-m-Y");
      }
      return '';
    }

Answer 2

Use the createFromFormat method:

$start_date = DateTime::createFromFormat("U", $dbResult->db_timestamp);

UPDATE

I now recommend the use of Carbon

Answer 3

$start_date = new DateTime();
$start_date->setTimestamp($dbResult->db_timestamp);

Answer 4

change your code to this

$start_date = new DateTime( "@" . $dbResult->db_timestamp );

and it will work fine

Answer 5

You should use setTimestamp instead, if you hardcode it:

$start_date = new DateTime();
$start_date->setTimestamp(1372622987);

in your case

$start_date = new DateTime();
$start_date->setTimestamp($dbResult->db_timestamp);