PHP localtime() Function – Schools of Web

What is PHP localtime() Function?

If you want to know time detail of the current local time (which is determined by the server’s default timezone settings), use PHP localtime() function. you can also know the time detail of a specific timestamp.

If you want to know time detail of the followings, use PHP localtime() function-

current local time of your server’s default timezone.
current local time of a specific timezone.
current local time of a timestamp.

The function returns the following time detail of a current local time-

Numeric key	Associative Key	Description	Value
0	tm_sec	Seconds	0 to 59
1	tm_min	Minutes	0 to 59
2	tm_hour	Hours	0 to 23
3	tm_mday	day of the month	1 to 31
4	tm_mon	month of the year	0 (Jan) to 11 (Dec)
5	tm_year	Years	since 1900
6	tm_wday	day of the week	0 (Sun) to 6 (Sat)
7	tm_yday	day of the year	0 to 365
8	tm_isdst	is daylight savings time in effect?	1 (yes), 0 (no), -1 (unknown)

Note: When the function returns an indexed array, the function has its key like the 1^st column “Numeric key”. Similarly, when the function returns an associative array, the function has its key like the 2^nd column “Associative key”.

Syntax:

localtime(timestamp, is_associative)

Parameters:

The Function has 2 parameters which are both optional –

timestamp (Optional): it specifies an Unix timestamp. If omitted, the function calculates it from the local server’s default timezone (Check example 1).

is_associative (Optional): it specifies a Boolean which indicates whether you want to time detail in an indexed array or in an associative array.

TRUE – the function returns time detail in an associative array (Check example 1).
FALSE – the function returns time detail in an indexed array.

Return Values:

The function returns an array that contains time detail.

Examples:

Example 1:

<pre>
<?php
echo "The local time is: <br />";
print_r(localtime());

echo "The local time is: <br />";
print_r(localtime(time(), TRUE));
?>
</pre>

Output:

The local time is: 
Array
(
    [0] => 47
    [1] => 46
    [2] => 16
    [3] => 11
    [4] => 0
    [5] => 126
    [6] => 0
    [7] => 10
    [8] => 0
)
The local time is: 
Array
(
    [tm_sec] => 47
    [tm_min] => 46
    [tm_hour] => 16
    [tm_mday] => 11
    [tm_mon] => 0
    [tm_year] => 126
    [tm_wday] => 0
    [tm_yday] => 10
    [tm_isdst] => 0
)

Example 2:

<pre>
<?php
// Setting a timezone to see its current local time-
date_default_timezone_set("Europe/London");
$associative_time = localtime(time(), true);
echo "The current local time detail of London is: <br />";
print_r($associative_time);
?>
</pre>

Output:

The current local time detail of London is: 
Array
(
    [tm_sec] => 15
    [tm_min] => 49
    [tm_hour] => 15
    [tm_mday] => 11
    [tm_mon] => 0
    [tm_year] => 126
    [tm_wday] => 0
    [tm_yday] => 10
    [tm_isdst] => 0
)

PHP Version Support:

PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8

Summary: PHP localtime() Function

The gettimeofday() function may be the most commonly used built-in PHP date and time function. Use this function to know detail of your current local time.

Reference:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.localtime.php