date function question

lorddraco98

whenever I want to use dates on my site, I use the following:

date('Y-m-d H:i:s');

now, I can never remmeber that correctly so I'm always copying and pasting. So I figured, why not make a function. This is what I have, tell me what I'm doing wrong or how to do this plz!
my code:

function makedate($var1)
{
$var1= date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
global $var1;
}

I've also tried:

function makedate()
{
$date1= date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
global $date1;
}

i call this function on a page(either

makedate();

makedate($date1);

and then I do a echo $date1;
it displays nothing.

Then i did a !isset check and the variable isn't being set :/
any suggestions?

CoB-Himself

Try this:

<?php
function makeDate()
{
return date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
}

$date = makeDate();
?>

I believe that will work, I haven't tested it though.

DigitalExpl0it

try this

<? 
function makedate() {
$var1= date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
echo $var1;
}

makedate();
?>

cmburns69

Try putting the global line above the date call:

function makedate() {
    global $date1;
    $date1 = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
}

Another way that might be easier would be to just define the format string in a constant, and every time you need a date, pass it to date directly (more efficient):

// At the top of your file...
define("DATE_FORMAT",'Y-m-d H:i:s');

// When you need the date...
$date1 = date(DATE_FORMAT);

devinemke

if you simply want to show the current date/time at various places around your site then just create a variable and echo it:

$date_time = date ('Y-m-d H:i:s');
echo $date_time;

...and just keep echoing it wherever you want to use it. If you want to use several different dates in that format then...

function makedate ($date)
{
return date ('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime ($date));
}

you can feed this function most string representations of a date:

$date = makedate ('June 5, 1981');
echo $date;

lorddraco98

Originally posted by CoB-Himself
Try this:

<?php
function makeDate()
{
return date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
}

$date = makeDate();
?>

I believe that will work, I haven't tested it though.

we have a winner!
Thanks man, works great 🙂
Thanks everyone else as well!