Looking for more information on how to do PHP the right way? Check out PHP: The Right Way

Derick Rethans' Blog:
To GMT or not to GMT
Mar 01, 2012 @ 17:39:45

In this new post to his site, Derick Rethans shows an instance of "GMT being tricky" when it comes to "UTC" versus "GMT" output from PHP's DateTime object.

Earlier today, on twitter, @skoop asked: "dear #lazyweb, when I use DateTimeZone('GMT'), why does format('e') output UTC?" [...] As you can see [the example with a format of "e" on a DateTimeZone('GMT')] has UTC and not GMT as you might expect.

Derick mentions that sometimes, systems require "GMT" instead of "UTC" in the output they're given. To work around this issue, he shows how to add a "type 2" timezone to the DateTime object by including it when you initialize the object (code samples included). Using alternative methods, you can add these "type 2" timezones in three ways - an offset in the initial string, using the abbreviation (like "EST" or "PST") and specifying the long version of the timezone (like "America/Montreal").

tagged: datetime handling timezone gmt utc type2 initialize offset

Link:


Trending Topics: