localtime()

Warning: localtime() was deprecated in PHP 7.0 and removed in PHP 8.0. This function is no longer available in modern PHP versions. For current projects, use DateTime or date() with date_default_timezone_set() to handle local time conversions safely.

localtime() was a built-in PHP function that converted a Unix timestamp into an array of local time values. This array contained information such as the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second of the local time.

Note: The returned local time depends on the server's configured timezone. Use date_default_timezone_set() to set it explicitly.

Here's the basic syntax of the localtime() function:

The syntax of PHP localtime()

<?php

localtime(timestamp, is_associative)

The timestamp parameter is the Unix timestamp you want to convert, and is_associative is an optional Boolean parameter that determines whether the returned array should be associative or not.

If is_associative is false or not specified, the array will be indexed numerically. The array will contain the following values in order:

• 0: Seconds (0-59).
• 1: Minutes (0-59).
• 2: Hours (0-23).
• 3: Day of the month (1-31).
• 4: Month (0-11, where 0 is January).
• 5: Years since 1900.
• 6: Day of the week (0-6, where 0 is Sunday).
• 7: Day of the year (0-365).
• 8: Whether Daylight Saving Time is in effect (1 if yes, 0 if no, -1 if unknown).

If is_associative is set to true, the array keys will be named after the values above, like so:

array(
  'tm_sec' => ...,
  'tm_min' => ...,
  'tm_hour' => ...,
  'tm_mday' => ...,
  'tm_mon' => ...,
  'tm_year' => ...,
  'tm_wday' => ...,
  'tm_yday' => ...,
  'tm_isdst' => ...
)

Here are some examples of using the localtime() function:

Example of PHP localtime() function

<?php

// Get the current local time
$now = time();
$localtime = localtime($now);
print_r($localtime);

// Get the local time for a specific Unix timestamp
$timestamp = 1646563200; // March 5, 2022, 12:00:00 AM UTC
$localtime = localtime($timestamp);
print_r($localtime);

// Get the local time as an associative array
$now = time();
$localtime = localtime($now, true);
echo "The current year is " . ($localtime['tm_year'] + 1900);

These examples show how you can use localtime() to convert Unix timestamps into local time values and manipulate them as needed in your PHP code.

Practice