different date inputs

Anon

Hello , i want to know how i can change the date timestamps from a variable.

For exemple : if i give in 14-11-2001 it should give me 2001-11-14 also , in a other function of course , where i can change 2001-11-14 into 14-11-2001.

I need it so i can make my user interface much more secure because i work with a DATE field wich give strange results when i enter 14-11-2001.

Thanx

ace21

write a function that converts one way to the other. if you need more look up the explode function.

Ace21

Anon

The prob is , it should be ALWAYS converted to 2001-11-15 even if it is already in the good order (explode would mess up then)

cordex

Semtex? Nice name. To quote an ex-military friend of mine "The plastique snowman didn't do as much damage as the shaped charge, but it looked a lot funnier."

Check out the strtotime and date functions.

-Ben

Anon

Heh 🙂

Hmm that could help as far for the sql side (DATA_FORMAT etc) but what for the var

Lemme put it with an exemple

#1
$date = "21-11-2001"
date should be entered in DB as 2001-11-21.

#2
$date = "2001-11-21"
date be entered in DB as 2001-11-21 but is already in the good form.

So i need smt wich will always put the yrea up front , the month in the middle and the date at the last position , no matter what i give in.

cordex

Okay, my explosive friend, let me try again.

I suggested looking into strtotime() and date().

What I meant was use strtotime() to get the timestamp of the data and use date() to generate the correctly arranged date.

$time="11-21-2001";
$time = str_replace("-","/", $time);
$time = strtotime($time);
$str = date("Y-m-d", $time);
echo "$str <BR>";

This works.

However, it doesn't help you because you are concerned with people entering data in a format not recognized by strtotime() (day, month, year rather then month day year or year month day).

You could use the explode function as suggested before and add an if statement to check if the first segment is greater then 1000 - that would prevent the reversal of the correct entry.

-Ben

rrijnders

If the problem is people entering non-conformant date formats, you could use one of these two techniques:

1) use seperate drop-down select boxes for YEAR, MONTH, and DATE. Your program can then assemble them in the right order for date processing and validation.

2) use one of the many free javascript "date pickers" available on the web. These things pop up a small window and allow the user to pick a date from the calendar. The picked date then is returned to your form field. You use the "READONLY" attribute in your date field to keep people from bypassing the picker.

HTH
-- Rich