DateTime::diff

date_diff

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0)

DateTime::diff -- date_diff — Returns the difference between two DateTime objects

Description

Object oriented style

public DateInterval DateTime::diff ( DateTime $datetime2 [, bool $absolute = false ] )

Procedural style

DateInterval date_diff ( DateTime $datetime1 , DateTime $datetime2 [, bool $absolute = false ] )

Returns the difference between two DateTime objects.

Parameters

datetime

The date to compare to.

absolute

Whether to return absolute difference.

Return Values

The DateInterval object representing the difference between the two dates or FALSE on failure.

Examples

Example #1 DateTime::diff() example

Object oriented style

<?php
$datetime1 = new DateTime('2009-10-11');
$datetime2 = new DateTime('2009-10-13');
$interval = $datetime1->diff($datetime2);
echo $interval->format('%R%a days');
?>

Procedural style

<?php
$datetime1 = date_create('2009-10-11');
$datetime2 = date_create('2009-10-13');
$interval = date_diff($datetime1, $datetime2);
echo $interval->format('%R%a days');
?>

The above examples will output:

+2 days

Example #2 DateTime object comparison

Note:

As of PHP 5.2.2, DateTime objects can be compared using comparison operators.

<?php
$date1 = new DateTime("now");
$date2 = new DateTime("tomorrow");

var_dump($date1 == $date2);
var_dump($date1 < $date2);
var_dump($date1 > $date2);
?>

The above example will output:

bool(false)
bool(true)
bool(false)

See Also

  • DateInterval::format() - Formats the interval
  • DateTime::add() - Adds an amount of days, months, years, hours, minutes and seconds to a DateTime object
  • DateTime::sub() - Subtracts an amount of days, months, years, hours, minutes and seconds from a DateTime object