Hi ,

I have a scenario where I have to fetch the dates in 1/1/1900 format and insert it to a new database as 1900-01-01. The issue i face is my date before 1970 gets reset to 01-01-1970.

I tried as strftime("%Y-%m-%d", strtotime(''1-1-1900)).
I also tried with mktime but same.

There is a safestrtotime() in the strtotime function page in php.net but that gives me for date 01-01-1900 the date as 14-12-1901.

PHP 5.1+
OS : Ubuntu

Thanks in advance for the pointers and suggestions, I remain

With regards,

Harish

I have experimented with your problem and this appears to be a minor php bug. It seems to not handle negetive numbers properly. So to be able to do this job, you will need to make custom functions with loops that calculate the appropriate date. I will see what I can do as it won't be an easy task (due to leap years) but good luck.

Hm, thanks for this. I had the same issue.

Function I tried other than builtin strtotime and date+ mktime is as below section but nothing gave me the exact date. Since I was getting no where, just wondered how about type cast. It seems WORKING, in the sense, I am able to put in the date as needed and precise 1900-01-01.

Input date: 1/1/1900
Output desired as inserted in database : 1900-01-01

Step #1. Exploded the input date to a array.
Step #2. Formed a needed format variable($timestamp) from the array
Step #3. Just to make sure cast as 'String' : ( String ) $timestamp

Inserted to the datebase , and the date type field holds the date correctly and the way expected.
[Note] Dont know whether above approach is correct but by posting here I believe, I could get some suggestions.

========================================================

-------------------------Function1------------------------------

function Hsafestrtotime ($s) {
	  $basetime = 0;
	  if (preg_match ("/19(\d\d)/", $s, $m) && ($m[1] < 70)) {
	    $s = preg_replace ("/19\d\d/", 1900 + $m[1]+68, $s);
	    $basetime = 0x80000000 + 1570448;
	  }
	  return $basetime + strtotime ($s);
	}

--------------------------Function2--------------------------

function safestrtotime($strInput) {
        $iVal = -1;
        for ($i=1900; $i<=1969; $i++) {
            # Check for this year string in date
            $strYear = (string)$i;
            if (!(strpos($strInput, $strYear)===false)) {
                $replYear = $strYear;
                $yearSkew = 1970 - $i;
                $strInput = str_replace($strYear, "1970", $strInput);
            };
        };
        $iVal = strtotime($strInput);
        if ($yearSkew > 0) {
            $numSecs = (60 * 60 * 24 * 365 * $yearSkew);
            $iVal = $iVal - $numSecs;
            $numLeapYears = 0;        # Work out number of leap years in period
            for ($j=$replYear; $j<=1969; $j++) {
                $thisYear = $j;
                $isLeapYear = false;
                # Is div by 4?
                if (($thisYear % 4) == 0) {
                    $isLeapYear = true;
                };
                # Is div by 100?
                if (($thisYear % 100) == 0) {
                    $isLeapYear = false;
                };
                # Is div by 1000?
                if (($thisYear % 1000) == 0) {
                    $isLeapYear = true;
                };
                if ($isLeapYear == true) {
                    $numLeapYears++;
                };
            };
            $iVal = $iVal - (60 * 60 * 24 * $numLeapYears);
        };
        return($iVal);
    }

There is an add in library for this function,
not sure how good it is,
http://phplens.com/phpeverywhere/node/view/16

Thanks almostbob for the refernce link and knowledge. Sure, I would try it out. For now, I managed it some how but would like to try out something that is the right approach. Thanks once again.

In case you want to make a custom function, the following code will do the job but is really slow. But this will give you something to play with.

<?
function get_date($date,$timestamp=false) {
    if ($timestamp==false) {
        $timestamp=time();
        } else {
        $timestamp=round($timestamp);
        }
    if ($timestamp>=0) {
        return date($date,$timestamp);
        } else {
        if ($timestamp<-100000000)  { die('This timestamp will take too long to calculate'); }
        //calculate negative time
        $year=1970;
        for ($i=-1;$i>$timestamp;) { //year loop
            $year--;
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (December)
                $month=12;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (November)
                $month=11;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (October)
                $month=10;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (September)
                $month=9;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (August)
                $month=8;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (July)
                $month=7;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (June)
                $month=6;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (May)
                $month=5;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (April)
                $month=4;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (March)
                $month=3;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            if (round((1972-$year)/4)==((1972-$year)/4)) {
                $j=29;
                } else {
                $j=28;
                }
            for ($k=$j; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (February)
                $month=2;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (January)
                $month=1;
                $day=$k;
                for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                    $hour=$l;
                    for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                        $minute=$m;
                        for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                            $second=$n;
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                        }
                    if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
 
            }
        }
        if ($hour>12) {
            $ampm='AM';
            $pmam='am';
            } else {
            $ampm='PM';
            $pmam='pm';
            }
        if ($hour>12) {
            $hr=$hour-12;
            } else {
            $hr=$hour;
            }
        if ($second<10) {
            $second='0'.$second;
            }
        if ($minute<10) {
            $minute='0'.$minute;
            }
        return str_replace(array('Y','n','j','H','h','i','s','a','A'),array($year,$month,$day,$hour,$hr,$minute,$second,$pmam,$ampm),$date);
    }
echo get_date('Y-n-j.....h:i:s A',-10000000);
?>
commented: Thanks to cwarn for helping me +5

Just for anybody reading this thread in the future, I have managed to complete my script with better reliability and is as follows:

function get_date($date,$timestamp=false) {
    if ($timestamp==false) {
        $timestamp=time();
        } else {
        $timestamp=round($timestamp);
        }
    if ($timestamp>=0) {
        return date($date,$timestamp);
        } else {
        if ($timestamp<-62168515200)  { die('This timestamp was during before the year zero there for will not be calculated'); }
        //calculate negative time
        $year=1970;
        for ($i=-1;$i>$timestamp;) { //year loop
            $year--;
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (December)
                $month=12;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (November)
                $month=11;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (October)
                $month=10;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (September)
                $month=9;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (August)
                $month=8;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (July)
                $month=7;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (June)
                $month=6;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (May)
                $month=5;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=30; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (April)
                $month=4;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (March)
                $month=3;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            if (round((1972-$year)/4)==((1972-$year)/4)) {
                $j=29;
                } else {
                $j=28;
                }
            for ($k=$j; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (February)
                $month=2;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
            for ($k=31; $k>0;$k--) { //month loop (January)
                $month=1;
                $day=$k;
                if (($i-86400)>$timestamp) {
                    $i-=86400;
                    $l=24; $hour=24;
                    $m=59; $minute=59;
                    $n=59; $second=59;
                    } else {
                    for ($l=24; $l>0;$l--) {
                        $hour=$l;
                        for ($m=59; $m>-1;$m--) {
                            $minute=$m;
                            for ($n=59; $n>-1;$n--, $i--) {
                                $second=$n;
                                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break;break; }
                                }
                            if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break;break; }
                            }
                        if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break;break; }
                        }
                    }
                if ($i==$timestamp) { break;break; }
                }
            if ($i==$timestamp) { break; }
 
            }
        }
        if ($hour>12) {
            $ampm='PM';
            $pmam='pm';
            } else {
            $ampm='AM';
            $pmam='am';
            }
        if ($hour>12) {
            $hr=$hour-12;
            } else {
            $hr=$hour;
            }
        if ($second<10) {
            $second='0'.$second;
            }
        if ($minute<10) {
            $minute='0'.$minute;
            }
        return str_replace(array('Y','n','j','H','h','i','s','a','A'),array($year,$month,$day,$hour,$hr,$minute,$second,$pmam,$ampm),$date);
    }


//now to use it.
echo get_date('Y-n-j.....h:i:s A',-172800);
?>
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