The date_interval_create_from_date_string Function

The date_interval_create_from_date_string function converts a textual description of an interval into a date object. This object can be used with the date_add and date_sub functions. The interval string uses natural language to specify the period.

Syntax

phpdate_interval_create_from_date_string(string $time);

Example

Create an interval of 2 days and 6 hours:

php<?php
  $interval = date_interval_create_from_date_string('2 days + 6 hours');
  print_r($interval);
?>

Code execution result:

phpDateInterval Object
(
  [d] => 2
  [h] => 6
)

Example

Create a complex interval (1 month, 2 weeks, and 3 days):

php<?php
  $interval = date_interval_create_from_date_string('1 month + 2 weeks + 3 days');
  print_r($interval);
?>

Code execution result:

phpDateInterval Object
(
  [m] => 1
  [d] => 17
)

Supported Formats

The function understands the following units of measurement:

• year/years
• month/months
• day/days
• week/weeks
• hour/hours
• minute/minutes
• second/seconds

See Also