Overview
KB
Technical FAQ
PHP Manual
CSS2 Manual
HTML Manual
JS Guide
JS Reference
PhpDock Manual
Nu-Coder Manual
PhpExpress Manual
PHP Joomla
Development
Learn PHP
 
<IntlDateFormatter::createIntlDateFormatter::formatObject>
^IntlDateFormatterLast updated: Mon, 26 Oct 2026

IntlDateFormatter::format

datefmt_format

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PHP 8, PECL intl >= 1.0.0)

IntlDateFormatter::format -- datefmt_format — Format the date/time value as a string

Description

Object-oriented style

public function IntlDateFormatter::format(IntlCalendar|DateTimeInterface|array|string|int|float $datetime): string|false

Procedural style

function datefmt_format(IntlDateFormatter $formatter, IntlCalendar|DateTimeInterface|array|string|int|float $datetime): string|false

Formats the time value as a string.

Parameters

formatter

The date formatter resource.

datetime

Value to format. This may be a DateTimeInterface object, an IntlCalendar object, a numeric type representing a (possibly fractional) number of seconds since epoch or an array in the format output by localtime().

If a DateTime or an IntlCalendar object is passed, its timezone is not considered. The object will be formatted using the formaterʼs configured timezone. If one wants to use the timezone of the object to be formatted, IntlDateFormatter::setTimeZone() must be called before with the objectʼs timezone. Alternatively, the static function IntlDateFormatter::formatObject() may be used instead.

Return Values

The formatted string or, if an error occurred, false.

Changelog

Version Description
7.1.5 Support for providing general DateTimeInterface objects to the datetime parameter was added. Formerly, only proper DateTime objects were supported.
PECL intl 3.0.0 Support for providing IntlCalendar objects to the datetime parameter was added.

Examples

Example #1 datefmt_format() example

<?php
$fmt = datefmt_create(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'First Formatted output is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);

$fmt = datefmt_create(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'Second Formatted output is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);

$fmt = datefmt_create(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo 'First Formatted output with pattern is ' . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);

$fmt = datefmt_create(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo "Second Formatted output with pattern is " . datefmt_format($fmt, 0);
?>

Example #2 OO example

<?php
$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'First Formatted output is ' . $fmt->format(0);

$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);
echo 'Second Formatted output is ' . $fmt->format(0);

$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'en_US',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo 'First Formatted output with pattern is ' . $fmt->format(0);

$fmt = new IntlDateFormatter(
    'de-DE',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    'America/Los_Angeles',
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN,
    'MM/dd/yyyy'
);
echo 'Second Formatted output with pattern is ' . $fmt->format(0);
?>

The above example will output:

First Formatted output is Wednesday, December 31, 1969 4:00:00 PM PT
Second Formatted output is Mittwoch, 31. Dezember 1969 16:00 Uhr GMT-08:00
First Formatted output with pattern is 12/31/1969
Second Formatted output with pattern is 12/31/1969

Example #3 With IntlCalendar object

<?php
$tz = reset(iterator_to_array(IntlTimeZone::createEnumeration('FR')));
$formatter = IntlDateFormatter::create(
    'fr_FR',
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
    $tz,
    IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN
);

$cal = IntlCalendar::createInstance($tz, '@calendar=islamic-civil');
$cal->set(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MONTH, 8); //9th month, Ramadan
$cal->set(IntlCalendar::FIELD_DAY_OF_MONTH, 1); //1st day
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_HOUR_OF_DAY);
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MINUTE);
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_SECOND);
$cal->clear(IntlCalendar::FIELD_MILLISECOND);

echo "In this islamic year, Ramadan started/will start on:\n\t",
        $formatter->format($cal), "\n";

//Itʼs the formatterʼs timezone that is used:
$formatter->setTimeZone('Asia/Tokyo');
echo "After changing timezone:\n\t",
        $formatter->format($cal), "\n";

The above example will output:

In this islamic year, Ramadan started/will start on:
    mardi 9 juillet 2013 19:00:00 heure avancée d’Europe centrale
After changing timezone:
    mercredi 10 juillet 2013 02:00:00 heure normale du Japon

See Also


<IntlDateFormatter::createIntlDateFormatter::formatObject>
^IntlDateFormatterLast updated: Mon, 26 Oct 2026