How Do I convert datetime-local input to unix timestamp?

Question

I am working with an input which type is datetime-local . I need to convert this to unix timestamp.

here's an example of what format the raw value submitted is 2018-06-12T19:30 .

I need to convert dates in formats such as the above into this format 1608954764 , the current unix timestamp.

Answer 1

strtotime() will return a Unix epoch for the time given.

<?php
strtotime("2018-06-12T19:30");
?>

Answer 2

You may use date_create_from_format.

date_create_from_format has the advantage to avoid system detecting wrong month and day (eg 2011-3-10 may mean 10 March or 3 Oct in different countries, but date_create_from_format is safe, it converts according to the rule you set)

As follows:

<?php
$date = date_create_from_format('Y-m-j H:i', str_replace('T',' ', '2018-06-12T19:30'));

echo $date->getTimestamp();
?>

Answer 3

strtotime() is the easiest choice, but you really should consider using the DateTime class whenever possible.

To get the UNIX timestamp with DateTime simply use format('U') .

// returns UNIX timestamp as string
$ts = (new DateTime("2018-06-12T19:30"))->format('U');

There is also a shortcut for this called getTimestamp() .

// returns UNIX timestamp as int
$ts = (new DateTime("2018-06-12T19:30"))->getTimestamp();