i have some dates retrived using php from my mysql server in the conventional format: 2011-05-13 12:22:11 , how can i convert this to: 3 days and 12 hours ago. Thanks a lot!
For your troubles (source) - the internet is awesome:
/* takes an argument in unix time (seconds) */
function time_since($original) {
// array of time period chunks
$chunks = array(
array(60 * 60 * 24 * 365 , 'year'),
array(60 * 60 * 24 * 30 , 'month'),
array(60 * 60 * 24 * 7, 'week'),
array(60 * 60 * 24 , 'day'),
array(60 * 60 , 'hour'),
array(60 , 'minute'),
);
$today = time(); /* Current unix time */
$since = $today - $original;
// $j saves performing the count function each time around the loop
for ($i = 0, $j = count($chunks); $i < $j; $i++) {
$seconds = $chunks[$i][0];
$name = $chunks[$i][1];
// finding the biggest chunk (if the chunk fits, break)
if (($count = floor($since / $seconds)) != 0) {
// DEBUG print "<!-- It's $name -->
";
break;
}
}
$print = ($count == 1) ? '1 '.$name : "$count {$name}s";
if ($i + 1 < $j) {
// now getting the second item
$seconds2 = $chunks[$i + 1][0];
$name2 = $chunks[$i + 1][1];
// add second item if it's greater than 0
if (($count2 = floor(($since - ($seconds * $count)) / $seconds2)) != 0) {
$print .= ($count2 == 1) ? ', 1 '.$name2 : ", $count2 {$name2}s";
}
}
return $print;
}
echo time_since(strtotime('2011-05-13 12:22:11')); // 1 day, 2 hours
This might be of good use to you, "Handy Time Phrases in PHP".
You would need to subtract this date from the current date.
Use DateTime::diff for the purpose. This will return you a DateInterval Object which you can readily convert to the form you want to present it in.
You can split it into arrays, and then use the mktime function to manually rebuild a timestamp that PHP can recognize.
$str = "2011-05-13 12:22:11";
//Seperate the Date and Time components into an array
$detail_array = explode(" ", $str);
//Seperate each the Year, Month and Day
$date_array = explode("-", $detail_array[0]);
//Seperate the Hour, Minute and Second
$time_array = explode(":", $detail_array[1]);
//Recompile the components into the correct order to produce a timestamp
$timestamp = mktime($time_array[0], $time_array[1], $time_array[2], $date_array[1], $date_array[2], $date_array[0]);
//Confirm the timestamp produces the original string
echo "Timestamp Test: " . date("Y-m-d h:i:s", $timestamp) . "<br />";
//Determine how long ago the timestamp was in seconds
$age = time() - $timestamp;
$days_old = round($age / 86400, 0);
$hours_old = round(($age - ($days_old * 86400)) / 3600, 0);
echo "$days_old day/s and $hours_old hour/s ago";