<?php
// Set timezone
date_default_timezone_set("UTC");
// Time format is UNIX timestamp or
// PHP strtotime compatible strings
function dateDiff($time1, $time2, $precision = 6) {
// If not numeric then convert texts to unix timestamps
if (!is_int($time1)) {
$time1 = strtotime($time1);
}
if (!is_int($time2)) {
$time2 = strtotime($time2);
}
// If time1 is bigger than time2
// Then swap time1 and time2
if ($time1 > $time2) {
$ttime = $time1;
$time1 = $time2;
$time2 = $ttime;
}
// Set up intervals and diffs arrays
$intervals = array('year','month','day','hour','minute','second');
$diffs = array();
// Loop thru all intervals
foreach ($intervals as $interval) {
// Create temp time from time1 and interval
$ttime = strtotime('+1 ' . $interval, $time1);
// Set initial values
$add = 1;
$looped = 0;
// Loop until temp time is smaller than time2
while ($time2 >= $ttime) {
// Create new temp time from time1 and interval
$add++;
$ttime = strtotime("+" . $add . " " . $interval, $time1);
$looped++;
}
$time1 = strtotime("+" . $looped . " " . $interval, $time1);
$diffs[$interval] = $looped;
}
$count = 0;
$times = array();
// Loop thru all diffs
foreach ($diffs as $interval => $value) {
// Break if we have needed precission
if ($count >= $precision) {
break;
}
// Add value and interval
// if value is bigger than 0
if ($value > 0) {
// Add s if value is not 1
if ($value != 1) {
$interval .= "s";
}
// Add value and interval to times array
$times[] = $value . " " . $interval;
$count++;
}
}
// Return string with times
return implode(", ", $times);
}
?>
dateDiff function example usage
strtotime examples:
PHP
echo dateDiff("2010-01-26", "2004-01-26") . "\n"; echo dateDiff("2006-04-12 12:30:00", "1987-04-12 12:30:01") . "\n"; echo dateDiff("now", "now +2 months") . "\n"; echo dateDiff("now", "now -6 year -2 months -10 days") . "\n"; echo dateDiff("2009-01-26", "2004-01-26 15:38:11") . "\n";
Output:
6 years 18 years, 11 months, 30 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds 2 months 6 years, 2 months, 10 days 4 years, 11 months, 30 days, 8 hours, 21 minutes, 49 secondsUNIX timestamp and precision examples
PHP
echo dateDiff(time(), time()-1000000, 1) . "\n"; echo dateDiff(time(), time()-1000000, 3) . "\n"; echo dateDiff(time(), time()-1000000, 6) . "\n";
Output:
11 days 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes, 40 secondsConverting text format back to UNIX timestamp example
PHP
$time1 = time(); $time2 = $time1-10000000; echo $diff = dateDiff($time1, $time2) . "\n"; echo $time1 . "\n"; echo strtotime(" +".$diff, $time2) . "\n";
Output:
3 months, 23 days, 17 hours, 46 minutes, 40 seconds 1264514564 1264514564