Format the date/time value as a string

IntlDateFormatter::create
IntlDateFormatter::formatObject
IntlDateFormatter
PHP Manual

# IntlDateFormatter::format

# datefmt_format

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PECL intl >= 1.0.0)

IntlDateFormatter::format -- datefmt_format — Format the date/time value as a string

### Description

Object oriented style

public string IntlDateFormatter::format ( mixed `$value` )

Procedural style

string datefmt_format ( IntlDateFormatter `$fmt` , mixed `$value` )

Formats the time value as a string.

### Parameters

`fmt`

  The date formatter resource.

`value`

  Value to format. This may be a DateTime object, an IntlCalendar object, a numeric type representing a (possibly fractional) number of seconds since epoch or an array in the format output by localtime().

  If a DateTime or an IntlCalendar object is passed, its timezone is not considered. The object will be formatted using the formaterʼs configured timezone. If one wants to use the timezone of the object to be formatted, IntlDateFormatter::setTimeZone() must be called before with the objectʼs timezone. Alternatively, the static function IntlDateFormatter::formatObject() may be used instead.

### Return Values

The formatted string or, if an error occurred, `FALSE`.

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
5.5.0/PECL 3.0.0 | Support for providing IntlCalendar objects to the `value` parameter was added.
5.3.4 | Support for providing DateTime objects to the `value` parameter was added.

### Examples

Example #1 datefmt_format() example

`<?php
$fmt = datefmt_create(
'en_US',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'First Formatted output is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);
$fmt = datefmt_create(
'de-DE',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'Second Formatted output is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);
$fmt = datefmt_create(
'en_US',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo 'First Formatted output with pattern is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);
$fmt = datefmt_create(
'de-DE',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo "Second Formatted output with pattern is " . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);
?>`

Example #2 OO example

`<?php
$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
'en_US',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'First Formatted output is ' . $fmt->format(0);
$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
'de-DE',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'Second Formatted output is ' . $fmt->format(0);
$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
'en_US',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo 'First Formatted output with pattern is ' . $fmt->format(0);
$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
'de-DE',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
'America/Los_Angeles',
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo 'Second Formatted output with pattern is ' . $fmt->format(0);
?>`

The above example will output:

    First Formatted output is Wednesday, December 31, 1969 4:00:00 PM PT
    Second Formatted output is Mittwoch, 31. Dezember 1969 16:00 Uhr GMT-08:00
    First Formatted output with pattern is 12/31/1969
    Second Formatted output with pattern is 12/31/1969

Example #3 With IntlCalendar object

`<?php
$tz = reset(iterator_to_array(IntlTimeZone::createEnumeration('FR')));
$formatter = IntlDateFormatter::create(
'fr_FR',
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
$tz,
IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
$cal = IntlCalendar::createInstance($tz, '@calendar=islamic-civil');
$cal->set(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MONTH, 8); //9th month, Ramadan
$cal->set(IntlCalendar::FIELD_DAY_OF_MONTH, 1); //1st day
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_HOUR_OF_DAY);
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MINUTE);
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_SECOND);
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MILLISECOND);
echo "In this islamic year, Ramadan started/will start on:\n\t",
$formatter->format($cal), "\n";
//Itʼs the formatterʼs timezone that is used:
$formatter->setTimeZone('Asia/Tokyo');
echo "After changing timezone:\n\t",
$formatter->format($cal), "\n";`

The above example will output:

    In this islamic year, Ramadan started/will start on:
        mardi 9 juillet 2013 19:00:00 heure avancée d’Europe centrale
    After changing timezone:
        mercredi 10 juillet 2013 02:00:00 heure normale du Japon

### See Also

- datefmt_create() - Create a date formatter
- datefmt_parse() - Parse string to a timestamp value
- datefmt_get_error_code() - Get the error code from last operation
- datefmt_get_error_message() - Get the error text from the last operation.
- datefmt_format_object() - Formats an object

IntlDateFormatter::create
IntlDateFormatter::formatObject
IntlDateFormatter
PHP Manual