Timestamp php variable into javascript

[nonshatter]

Hey,

I have been trying to devise a way to insert a formatted PHP date() variable ($expires) into a publicly available javascript countdown clock. Obviously, this is made difficult because PHP is server-side and Javascript is client-side. This first piece of code is me adding a number of days to a timestamp to find out the expiry/target date for the counter. The second piece is the javascript counter.

<?php
	include ('db.php');

	$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM test WHERE id = '1'");
	$result = mysql_fetch_assoc($query);

	$time = $result['timestamp'];
	$length = $result['length'];
	
		echo $time; //PRINTS 2010-04-30 22:10:42
	
	$expires = strtotime($time. '+' .$length. 'days');
	$expires = date('Y-m-d H:i:s',$expires);
	
		echo $expires; //PRINTS 2010-05-05 22:10:42
?>

/*
Author: Robert Hashemian
http://www.hashemian.com/

You can use this code in any manner so long as the author's
name, Web address and this disclaimer is kept intact.
********************************************************
Usage Sample:

<script language="JavaScript">
TargetDate = "12/31/2020 5:00 AM"; //<---------$EXPIRES NEEDS TO GO HERE
BackColor = "palegreen";
ForeColor = "navy";
CountActive = true;
CountStepper = -1;
LeadingZero = true;
DisplayFormat = "%%D%% Days, %%H%% Hours, %%M%% Minutes, %%S%% Seconds.";
FinishMessage = "It is finally here!";
</script>
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://scripts.hashemian.com/js/countdown.js"></script>
*/

function calcage(secs, num1, num2) {
  s = ((Math.floor(secs/num1))%num2).toString();
  if (LeadingZero && s.length < 2)
    s = "0" + s;
  return "<b>" + s + "</b>";
}

function CountBack(secs) {
  if (secs < 0) {
    document.getElementById("cntdwn").innerHTML = FinishMessage;
    return;
  }
  DisplayStr = DisplayFormat.replace(/%%D%%/g, calcage(secs,86400,100000));
  DisplayStr = DisplayStr.replace(/%%H%%/g, calcage(secs,3600,24));
  DisplayStr = DisplayStr.replace(/%%M%%/g, calcage(secs,60,60));
  DisplayStr = DisplayStr.replace(/%%S%%/g, calcage(secs,1,60));

  document.getElementById("cntdwn").innerHTML = DisplayStr;
  if (CountActive)
    setTimeout("CountBack(" + (secs+CountStepper) + ")", SetTimeOutPeriod);
}

function putspan(backcolor, forecolor) {
 document.write("<span id='cntdwn' style='background-color:" + backcolor + 
                "; color:" + forecolor + "'></span>");
}

if (typeof(BackColor)=="undefined")
  BackColor = "white";
if (typeof(ForeColor)=="undefined")
  ForeColor= "black";
if (typeof(TargetDate)=="undefined")
  TargetDate = "12/31/2020 5:00 AM";
if (typeof(DisplayFormat)=="undefined")
  DisplayFormat = "%%D%% Days, %%H%% Hours, %%M%% Minutes, %%S%% Seconds.";
if (typeof(CountActive)=="undefined")
  CountActive = true;
if (typeof(FinishMessage)=="undefined")
  FinishMessage = "";
if (typeof(CountStepper)!="number")
  CountStepper = -1;
if (typeof(LeadingZero)=="undefined")
  LeadingZero = true;


CountStepper = Math.ceil(CountStepper);
if (CountStepper == 0)
  CountActive = false;
var SetTimeOutPeriod = (Math.abs(CountStepper)-1)*1000 + 990;
putspan(BackColor, ForeColor);
var dthen = new Date(TargetDate);
var dnow = new Date();
if(CountStepper>0)
  ddiff = new Date(dnow-dthen);
else
  ddiff = new Date(dthen-dnow);
gsecs = Math.floor(ddiff.valueOf()/1000);
CountBack(gsecs);

So I was wondering if anyone could tell me how it could be possible to change this line to something along the lines of:

TargetDate = "<?php $expires ?>";

Many thanks,
Nonshatter

[BeachyUK]

The script seems to require the time in a different format to that provided.

TargetDate = "12/31/2020 5:00 AM";

So presumably you want PHP of:

$expires = date('m/d/Y g:i A',$expires);

[nonshatter]

So presumably you want PHP of:

$expires = date('m/d/Y g:i A',$expires);

You're dead right! I realised I was using the wrong format after I posted, I was then trying to use 24 hour format which wasn't being interpreted properly:

$expires = date('m/d/Y G:i A',$expires);

However, the 12 hour format you suggested works great.

Another question... What is the PHP function used to get the server time?
Thanks for your help. :icon_cheesygrin:

[BeachyUK]

No problem.

date() will deliver the current local time according to the server if you don't supply a timestamp.

e.g.

$now = date('m/d/Y G:i A');