# DateInterval::format

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7)

DateInterval::format — Formats the interval

### Description

public DateInterval::format ( string `$format` ) : string

Formats the interval.

### Parameters

`format`

  The following characters are recognized in the `format` parameter string. Each format character must be prefixed by a percent sign (`%`).
  `format` character | Description | Example values
  --- | --- | ---
  `%` | Literal `%` | `%`
  `Y` | Years, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | `01`, `03`
  `y` | Years, numeric | `1`, `3`
  `M` | Months, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | `01`, `03`, `12`
  `m` | Months, numeric | `1`, `3`, `12`
  `D` | Days, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | `01`, `03`, `31`
  `d` | Days, numeric | `1`, `3`, `31`
  `a` | Total number of days as a result of a DateTime::diff() or `(unknown)` otherwise | `4`, `18`, `8123`
  `H` | Hours, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | `01`, `03`, `23`
  `h` | Hours, numeric | `1`, `3`, `23`
  `I` | Minutes, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | `01`, `03`, `59`
  `i` | Minutes, numeric | `1`, `3`, `59`
  `S` | Seconds, numeric, at least 2 digits with leading 0 | `01`, `03`, `57`
  `s` | Seconds, numeric | `1`, `3`, `57`
  `F` | Microseconds, numeric, at least 6 digits with leading 0 | `007701`, `052738`, `428291`
  `f` | Microseconds, numeric | `7701`, `52738`, `428291`
  `R` | Sign "`-`" when negative, "`+`" when positive | `-`, `+`
  `r` | Sign "`-`" when negative, empty when positive | `-`, ``

### Return Values

Returns the formatted interval.

### Notes

> Note:

> The DateInterval::format() method does not recalculate carry over points in time strings nor in date segments. This is expected because it is not possible to overflow values like `"32 days"` which could be interpreted as anything from `"1 month and 4 days"` to `"1 month and 1 day"`.

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
7.1.0 | The `F` and `f` format characters were added.

### Examples

Example #1 DateInterval example

`<?php
$interval = new DateInterval('P2Y4DT6H8M');
echo $interval->format('%d days');
?>`

The above example will output:

    4 days

Example #2 DateInterval and carry over points

`<?php
$interval = new DateInterval('P32D');
echo $interval->format('%d days');
?>`

The above example will output:

    32 days

Example #3 DateInterval and DateTime::diff() with the %a and %d modifiers

`<?php
$january = new DateTime('2010-01-01');
$february = new DateTime('2010-02-01');
$interval = $february->diff($january);
// %a will output the total number of days.
echo $interval->format('%a total days')."\n";
// While %d will only output the number of days not already covered by the
// month.
echo $interval->format('%m month, %d days');
?>`

The above example will output:

    31 total days
    1 month, 0 days

### See Also

- DateTime::diff() - Returns the difference between two DateTime objects