Storing time in 24 Hr time-format into database with column type time

Question

I am trying to save time into MySQL database. I have kept the column type as time in database.

From the form I am getting the $_POST for time in 24-Hr format.

The value from the form for time is as follows:

 $_POST[openTime] = 20:00

When I convert the time by using strtotime() and date() I get the output as:

$_POST['openTime'] = date( "h:i:s A", strtotime($_POST['openTime']));

Output:

$_POST[openTime] => 08:00:00 PM

So I have a three part question:

1. Am I doing it in the correct way?

2. Can I store the values of $_POST directly into database after the steps I have performed above? If no what processing is needed before I store into the database?

so here after the above changes to $_POST['openTime'] the value is: $_POST[openTime] => 08:00:00 PM

3. Do I need to again convert the values of time that I fetch from database to PHP time object?

Please note that there will database operations based on time as well. For example: "which all places are open after 8PM?"

Answer 1

MySQL TIME field type has format like HH:MM:SS , range from -838:59:59 to 838:59:59 . Read more here . Based on that, you cannot store formated time like 08:00:00 PM .

If you have posted open time as 20:00 , then you need to use H:i:s format:

$_POST['openTime'] = date("H:i:s", strtotime($_POST['openTime']));

But IMHO this is unnecessary. What you need is a validation, smth like this:

if (preg_match('~^\d{2}:\d{2}$~', $_POST['openTime'])) {
    echo "posted time is valid!";
    $saveTime = $_POST['openTime'] . ':00';
}