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<h1 class="refname">DateInterval::format</h1>
<p class="verinfo">(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0)</p><p class="refpurpose"><span class="refname">DateInterval::format</span> — <span class="dc-title">Formats the interval</span></p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 description" id="refsect1-dateinterval.format-description">
<h3 class="title">Description</h3>
<div class="methodsynopsis dc-description">
<span class="modifier">public</span> <span class="type">string</span> <span class="methodname"><strong>DateInterval::format</strong></span>
( <span class="methodparam"><span class="type">string</span> <code class="parameter">$format</code></span>
)</div>
<p class="para rdfs-comment">
Formats the interval.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 parameters" id="refsect1-dateinterval.format-parameters">
<h3 class="title">Parameters</h3>
<p class="para">
<dl>
<dt>
<span class="term"><em><code class="parameter">format</code></em></span>
<dd>
<p class="para">
<table class="doctable table">
<caption><strong>
The following characters are recognized in the
<em><code class="parameter">format</code></em> parameter string.
Each format character must be prefixed by a percent sign
(<em>%</em>).
</strong></caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th><em><code class="parameter">format</code></em> character</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th>Example values</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr>
<td><em>%</em></td>
<td>Literal <em>%</em></td>
<td><em>%</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>Y</em></td>
<td>Years, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0</td>
<td><em>01</em>, <em>03</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>y</em></td>
<td>Years, numeric</td>
<td><em>1</em>, <em>3</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>M</em></td>
<td>Months, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0</td>
<td><em>01</em>, <em>03</em>, <em>12</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>m</em></td>
<td>Months, numeric</td>
<td><em>1</em>, <em>3</em>, <em>12</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>D</em></td>
<td>Days, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0</td>
<td><em>01</em>, <em>03</em>, <em>31</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>d</em></td>
<td>Days, numeric</td>
<td><em>1</em>, <em>3</em>, <em>31</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>a</em></td>
<td>Total number of days as a result of a <span class="methodname"><a href="datetime.diff.html" class="methodname">DateTime::diff()</a></span> or <em>(unknown)</em> otherwise</td>
<td><em>4</em>, <em>18</em>, <em>8123</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>H</em></td>
<td>Hours, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0</td>
<td><em>01</em>, <em>03</em>, <em>23</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>h</em></td>
<td>Hours, numeric</td>
<td><em>1</em>, <em>3</em>, <em>23</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>I</em></td>
<td>Minutes, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0</td>
<td><em>01</em>, <em>03</em>, <em>59</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>i</em></td>
<td>Minutes, numeric</td>
<td><em>1</em>, <em>3</em>, <em>59</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>S</em></td>
<td>Seconds, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0</td>
<td><em>01</em>, <em>03</em>, <em>57</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>s</em></td>
<td>Seconds, numeric</td>
<td><em>1</em>, <em>3</em>, <em>57</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>R</em></td>
<td>Sign "<em>-</em>" when negative, "<em>+</em>" when positive</td>
<td><em>-</em>, <em>+</em></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><em>r</em></td>
<td>Sign "<em>-</em>" when negative, empty when positive</td>
<td><em>-</em>, <em></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</p>
</dd>
</dt>
</dl>
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 returnvalues" id="refsect1-dateinterval.format-returnvalues">
<h3 class="title">Return Values</h3>
<p class="para">
Returns the formatted interval.
</p>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 notes" id="refsect1-dateinterval.format-notes">
<h3 class="title">Notes</h3>
<blockquote class="note"><p><strong class="note">Note</strong>:
<p class="para">
The <span class="methodname"><strong>DateInterval::format()</strong></span> method does not
recalculate carry over points in time strings nor in date segments. This
is expected because it is not possible to overflow values like <em>"32 days"</em>
which could be interpreted as anything from <em>"1 month and 4 days"</em>
to <em>"1 month and 1 day"</em>.
</p>
</p></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="refsect1 examples" id="refsect1-dateinterval.format-examples">
<h3 class="title">Examples</h3>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-2287">
<p><strong>Example #1 <a href="class.dateinterval.html" class="classname">DateInterval</a> example</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /><br />$interval </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">DateInterval</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'P2Y4DT6H8M'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$interval</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">format</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'%d days'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
4 days
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-2288">
<p><strong>Example #2 <a href="class.dateinterval.html" class="classname">DateInterval</a> and carry over points</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /><br />$interval </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">DateInterval</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'P32D'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br />echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$interval</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">format</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'%d days'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
32 days
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
<p class="para">
<div class="example" id="example-2289">
<p><strong>Example #3
<a href="class.dateinterval.html" class="classname">DateInterval</a> and
<span class="methodname"><a href="datetime.diff.html" class="methodname">DateTime::diff()</a></span> with the %a and %d modifiers
</strong></p>
<div class="example-contents">
<div class="phpcode"><code><span style="color: #000000">
<span style="color: #0000BB"><?php<br /><br />$january </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">DateTime</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'2010-01-01'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$february </span><span style="color: #007700">= new </span><span style="color: #0000BB">DateTime</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'2010-02-01'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">$interval </span><span style="color: #007700">= </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$february</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">diff</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$january</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// %a will output the total number of days.<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$interval</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">format</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'%a total days'</span><span style="color: #007700">).</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"\n"</span><span style="color: #007700">;<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #FF8000">// While %d will only output the number of days not already covered by the<br />// month.<br /></span><span style="color: #007700">echo </span><span style="color: #0000BB">$interval</span><span style="color: #007700">-></span><span style="color: #0000BB">format</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'%m month, %d days'</span><span style="color: #007700">);<br /><br /></span><span style="color: #0000BB">?></span>
</span>
</code></div>
</div>
<div class="example-contents"><p>The above example will output:</p></div>
<div class="example-contents screen">
<div class="cdata"><pre>
31 total days
1 month, 0 days
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
</p>
</div>
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