The DatePeriod Class

The DatePeriod constructor uses three syntaxes to iterate over dates and times:

1. DatePeriod($date, $dateInterval, $recurrences)
   Use this syntax to iterate with the given number of recurrences.
2. DatePeriod($startDate, $dateInterval, $endDate)
   Use this syntax to iterate over a set of dates and times.
3. DatePeriod($isostr)
   This syntax uses ISO 8601 repeating interval specification.

The number of recurrences

Note: These examples use DateTime and DateInterval classes.

<?php
 $date = new DateTime('27-Jan-2022');
 
 # 3-month interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('P3M');
 $recurrences = 3;

 $period = new DatePeriod($date, $interval, $recurrences);

 foreach ($period as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Jan-2022] [27-Apr-2022] [27-Jul-2022] [27-Oct-2022]

Exclude the start date (or time) in iteration

Use the DatePeriod::EXCLUDE_START_DATE constant in the DatePeriod constructor’s 4th parameter to exclude the first result :

<?php
 $date = new DateTime('27-Jan-2022');
 
 # 3-month interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('P3M');
 $occurences = 3;
 $exclude = DatePeriod::EXCLUDE_START_DATE;
 $period = new DatePeriod($date, $interval, $occurences, $exclude);

 foreach ($period as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Apr-2022] [27-Jul-2022] [27-Oct-2022]

Iterate over a set of dates and times

Example: Iterate over a set of seconds

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('03:31:01');
 $end   = new DateTime('03:31:04');
 # 1 second interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('PT1S'); 

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['.$date->format('H:i:s') . '] ';
 }
 # [03:31:01] [03:31:02] [03:31:03]

Use the DatePeriod::EXCLUDE_START_DATE constant in the DatePeriod constructor’s 4th parameter to exclude the first result :

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('03:31:01');
 $end   = new DateTime('03:31:04');
 # 1 second interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('PT1S'); 

 $range = new DatePeriod(
              $start,
              $interval,
              $end,
              DatePeriod::EXCLUDE_START_DATE);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['.$date->format('H:i:s') . '] ';
 }
 # [03:31:02] [03:31:03]

Example: Iterate over a set of minutes

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('03:31:01');
 $end   = new DateTime('10:51:08');
 # 125-minute interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('PT125M');

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('H:i:s') . '] ';
 }
 # [03:31:01] [05:36:01] [07:41:01] [09:46:01]

Example: Iterate over a set of hours

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('27-Jul-2022 03:31:01');
 $end   = new DateTime('22-Aug-2022 10:51:08');
 # 300-hour interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('PT300H');

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y H:i:s') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Jul-2022 03:31:01] [08-Aug-2022 15:31:01] [21-Aug-2022 03:31:01]

Example: Iterate over a set of days

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('27-Jul-2022');
 $end   = new DateTime('22-Aug-2022');
 # 10-day interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('P10D');

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Jul-2022] [06-Aug-2022] [16-Aug-2022]

Example: Iterate over a set of weeks

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('27-Jul-2022');
 $end   = new DateTime('22-Aug-2022');
 # 1-week interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('P1W');

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Jul-2022] [03-Aug-2022] [10-Aug-2022] [17-Aug-2022]

Example: Iterate over a set of months

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('27-Jan-2022');
 $end   = new DateTime('22-Aug-2022');
 # 3-month and 5-day interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('P3M5D');

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Jan-2022] [02-May-2022] [07-Aug-2022]

Example: Iterate over a set of years

<?php
 $start = new DateTime('27-Jan-2018');
 $end   = new DateTime('22-Aug-2022');
 # 1-year, 3-month and 5-day interval
 $interval = new DateInterval('P1Y3M5D');

 $range = new DatePeriod($start, $interval, $end);

 foreach ($range as $date) {
  echo '['. $date->format('d-M-Y') . '] ';
 }
 # [27-Jan-2018] [02-May-2019] [07-Aug-2020] [12-Nov-2021]

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The Date and Time Tutorials: