#summary Package details for Panda_Date
#labels Package

= Panda Date =

`Panda_Date` is a utility class for simple date manipulation and comparison. 

On this wiki page, you can read up on how to [#Getting_Started get started] using the `Panda_Date` class, how to class constants to offset time, and also how to compare dates against each other. An [#API overview] and [http://docs.pandaphp.org/class_panda___date.html detailed documentation] is available for developers who just want to see its guts.
  
== Getting Started ==

The easiest way to get started with `Panda_Date` is to create a new instance of the class and then echo its contents to the browser.

{{{
$rightNow = new Panda_Date;

echo $rightNow;
}}}

This should display something like: `2008-09-02 22:41:15`. By default, `Panda_Date` formats dates in a `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS` format. You can change this at any time by calling the `set()` method. If you prefer, you can pass your preferred format directly to the constructor.

{{{
// Change the format for $rightNow to only show Year/Month/Day
$rightNow->setFormat('Y/m/d');

echo $rightNow;

// This should be the same thing
echo new Panda_Date('today', 'Y/m/d');
}}}

As you can see, you have the ability to specify dates to the constructor such as `'today'`, `'yesterday'` or `'3 weeks ago'`. This power comes from PHP's [http://www.php.net/strtotime strtotime()] function which converts most english date/time string into a Unix timestamp.

== Offsetting Time ==

While working with dates, it's a common task to need to offset a specific date by a full day, week, year, etc. Fortunately `Panda_Date` has several useful constants which simplify things greatly.

Constants exist for `MINUTE`, `HOUR`, `DAY`, `WEEK`, `MONTH`, and `YEAR`; each of which are measured in seconds. `MONTH` is of course averaged since the days can vary from month-to-month. 

{{{
$today = new Panda_Date;
}}}

== Comparing Dates ==

== API ==

The following list of methods defines the public API.

  * `set(mixed $date)`: Sets the date to any valid [http://www.php.net/strtotime strtotime()] format.
  * `offset(int $offset)`: Offsets the date by the provided offset (in seconds).
  * `setFormat(string $format)`: Sets the date format to any valid [http://www.php.net/date date()] format.
  * `isLessThan(mixed $date)`: Compares the date with the supplied date. Returns true if the date is less than the supplied date.
  * `isGreaterThan(mixed $date)`: Compares the date with the supplied date. Returns true if the date is greater than the supplied date.