PHP time function- Return True if a time is between two times

Question

I am sorry, this is bound to be a REALLY easy answer to a silly question, but I am suffering from brain freeze!

I want a function that will return true if the current time is between the start and end time so the app won't run. Effectively a "quiet time";

A user can set a start time and and end time in 24hr clock:

$start_time = "0300"; $end_time = "0900";

Using the following almost works:

function isQuietTime($start,$end) { if((date("Hm") >= $start) && (date("Hm") <= $end)) {return TRUE;} else {return FALSE;} }

But what if the start time is 2300, the end time is 0600 and the current time is 0300? The above function will return false. The problem occurs when the start time is before the end of the current day and the end time is the following day. How do I get this to work?

Thanks!

use a unix timestamp.

michi
– michi

2013-08-13 22:08:43 +00:00
Commented Aug 13, 2013 at 22:08 — michi
– michi, Commented Aug 13, 2013 at 22:08

mkf · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-13 22:09:13Z

4

function fixedIsQuietTime($start, $end) { if ($start < $end) return isQuietTime($start, $end); else return ! isQuietTime($end, $start); }

answered Aug 13, 2013 at 22:09

mkf

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4 Comments

iagdotme Over a year ago

Aha, very cunning! I was kind of hoping it would be one function and not two, but it does work. Any thoughts on how I could amalgamate the two functions into one?

iagdotme Over a year ago

Oh, I suppose something like this would work...

function isQuietTime($start,$end,$now) { if ($start < $end) { if(($now >= $start) && ($now <= $end)) {return TRUE;} else {return FALSE;} } else { if(($now >= $start) && ($now <= $end)) {return FALSE;} else {return TRUE;} } }

mkf Over a year ago

You're right. By the way the developer who was implementing the alarm clock in my smartphone did not solve a similar problem - if you set an alarm at 11pm for 7am, it will ring at 7am a week later :). Good luck!

iagdotme Over a year ago

Thanks for your help. Also good to know I wasn't being too silly in asking the question! :-)

Kevin · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-13 22:25:47Z

I would recommend using UNIX time. So write a function to convert the input time to a UNIX time. Something like this:

function to_unix_time($string){ // Something like this... $unix_time = mktime(); return $unix_time; } function isQuietTime($start, $end){ $now = time(); $stime = to_unix_time($start); $etime = to_unix_time($end); if($now > $stime && $now < $etime){ //its quiet time! return true; } }

Thanks for your answer. Ideally I'd like to avoid converting to unix time for my app, but I like your thinking!

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