php - Different timezone_types on DateTime object

Question

I use Doctrine2 on Postgres. In one table I have got two different date types: birthdate:date and created_at:datetimetz. Both become DateTime object but with different timezone_type. Here are listings:

created_at datetimetz:

DateTime Object
(
    [date] => 2013-04-18 11:54:34
    [timezone_type] => 1
    [timezone] => +02:00
)

birthdate date:

DateTime Object
(
    [date] => 1970-01-01 00:00:00
    [timezone_type] => 3
    [timezone] => Europe/Berlin
)

I need to format my objects in the same way. Both should have timezone_type=3.

How can I achieve that?

Answer 1

Timezones can be one of three different types in DateTime objects:

• Type 1; A UTC offset, such as in new DateTime("17 July 2013 -0300");
• Type 2; A timezone abbreviation, such as in new DateTime("17 July 2013 GMT");
• Type 3: A timezone identifier, such as in new DateTime( "17 July 2013", new DateTimeZone("Europe/London"));

Only DateTime objects with type 3 timezones attached will allow for DST correctly.

In order to always have type 3 you will need to store the timezone in your database as accepted identifiers from this list and apply it to your DateTime object on instantiation.