Verify Date format for MySQL

Anon

I need to verify that the input value of a variable is in the correct format prior to writing to mySQL. MySQL wants the date in the following format... YYYY-MM-DD (for example, 2002-02-23). If it is not in this format, mySQL will record it as whatever default value I have chosen.

So, is there some slick and easy way to pull this string apart, and check the individual components for validity? I started with trying a regular expression but realized it may be easier to actually work on the various substrings and check each one against the possible rages for Y, M and D.

Just wondering if this is such a common task that there is some adopted method that is in common use.

(I am reasonably competent with PHP, by quite new to MySQL and are at the stage where I tend to things the hard way.)

[deleted]

on thing to remember is that you don't have to use the yyyy-mm-dd format in your app, you can use any format you like as long as you make sure you input yyyy-mm-dd into mysql.

You can use a very simple regexp to get the correct format (note: correct format. That does not mean: valid date)

try something like this:

$sDate = '2000-02-1';
echo preg_match("/[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{1,2}-[0-9]{1,2}/", $sDate);

this will match on four digits, a hyphen, one or two digits, another hyphen, and one or two digits.

A forum, a FAQ, what else do you need?