PHP | DateTime format() Function

The DateTime::format() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to return the new formatted date according to the specified format.

Syntax:

• Object oriented style

  string DateTime::format( string $format )

  or

  string DateTimeImmutable::format( string $format )

  or

  string DateTimeInterface::format( string $format )

• Procedural style

  string date_format( DateTimeInterface $object, string $format )

Parameters: This function uses two parameters as mentioned above and described below:

• $object: This parameter holds the DateTime object.
• $format: This parameter holds the format accepted by date() function.

Return Value: This function return the new formatted date string on success or False on failure.

Below programs illustrate the DateTime::format() function in PHP:

Program 1:

<?php

// Initialising the DateTime() object with a date
$datetime = new DateTime('2019-09-30');

// Calling the format() function with a
// specified format 'd-m-Y'
echo $datetime->format('d-m-Y');

?>

Output:

30-09-2019

Program 2:

<?php

// Initialising the DateTime() object with a date
$datetime = new DateTime('2019-09-30');

// Calling the format() function with a
// specified format 'd-m-Y H:i:s'
echo $datetime->format('d-m-Y H:i:s');

?>

Output:

30-09-2019 00:00:00

Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/datetime.format.php