Problem with September Date

PHP
1

Hi all, I have the following piece of code and for some reason when I echo it, it outputs 081010. Now I want it to output 080910 - why is missing one off? A quick response would be appreciated as this problem is occurring on a live site - it was working ok!

for($x = 0; $x < 3; $x++):
        $date = date('m', strtotime("+$x month"));
        echo $date;
2

I’d simplify that even further.


for ($i=0; $i<3; $i++) {
  echo date('m',strtotime("+$i months",date('M Y')));
}

That way you only have four function calls instead of five.

I would also advise AGAINST using range, as that has to make an array in memory and define it’s values – WAY slower than a normal loop – and using more memory is never a good idea, even with such a small range.

– edit – in theory since we’re using the first of the month, you could ALWAYS add 31 days and get a valid month result, using even less function calls.


$target=strtotime(date('M Y'),time()-24*60*60);
for ($i=0; $i<3; $i++) {
  echo date('m',$target);
  $target+=2678400; // 1 month
}

Faster, but could break if you try to check more than 20 or so months in advance.

A hybrid:


$now=strtotime(date('M Y'));
for ($i=0; $i<3; $i++) {
  echo date('m',strtotime("+$i months",$now));
}

At least gets the static value out of the loop. anything that remains the same should always be outside the loop, not inside.

… and yet another approach could be:


$target=strtotime(date('M Y'));
for ($i=0; $i<3; $i++) {
  echo date('m',$target);
  $target=strtotime('+1 months',$target);
}

Which doesn’t actually use the looping variable for the index.

though we’re REALLY overthinking the solution here to be honest:


$target=date('m');
for ($i=0; $i<3; $i++) {
  echo str_pad($target,2,'0',STR_PAD_LEFT);
  $target=($target%12)+1;
}

Is probably what I’d use. Pull the month FIRST as a number, then cut it off with modulus, then add one… guarantee simple math and str_pad to add the leading zero if needed is WAY faster than the endless calls to the time functions.

3

Hi Anthony, that’s perfect, working just as I wanted. Thank you so much for your help :slight_smile:

4

Don’t start the loop at 0 because your then doing +0 month which returns August.

Try


for($x = 1; $x < 4; $x++):

This will show 101012 which may not be what you want, because today is the 31st and there is no 31st of September.

5

It’s because you’re at the end of this month, I’ll try to find an article defining this behaviour better later - sorry I’m a bit pushed.

Found it: Obtaining the next month in PHP

You could, as a quick hack use:-


<?php
for($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++){
  echo date('m', mktime(null, null, null, date('m') + $i, null, null));
}
6

Hey man, thanks for taking the time to reply. I’ve tried that and doesn’t seem to make any difference. I just want to echo out the current and next two months such as August, September, October but instead having August, October, October…! Gerrr :frowning:

7

Hey Anthony, apologies didn’t see your post…wow you’ve saved my bacon, that’s sorted it. Was getting a little worried, wondered why no one had made any orders yet :confused: Will have a read up on that link you mentioned :slight_smile: Cheers dude!

8

Bear in mind that will only work until November! :frowning:

Using that article as a guide, this should be better suited:-


<?php
foreach(range(0, 2) as $i){
  $first = mktime(0, 0, 0, date('m'), 1, date('Y'));
  echo date('m', strtotime("+$i months", $first));
}