[serpents kiss dot com]

A small function to return a date range based on a plain-English text description eg last week

//***** FUNCTION TO RETURN THE DATES FOR A GIVEN DATE RANGE IN MYSQL AND UK FORMAT *****
/**
	USAGE:
	$arr_dates = date_range("last month);

	EXAMPLE OUTPUT:
	Array
	(
	    [date_from] => Array
	        (
	            [mysql] => 2011-03-01
	            [uk] => 01/03/2011
	            [text_long] => Thursday 31st March 2011
	            [text_short] => 31 Mar 2011
	        )

	    [date_to] => Array
	        (
	            [mysql] => 2011-03-31
	            [uk] => 31/03/2011
	            [text_long] => Thursday 31st March 2011
	            [text_short] => 31 Mar 2011
	        )

	    [description] => Array
	        (
	            [range] => last month
	            [description] => March 2011
	        )

	)
 */
function date_range($period){
	$arr_allowed_date_ranges = array("yesterday", "this week", "last week", "this month", "last month", "this year", "last year", "all");
	if(!in_array($period, $arr_allowed_date_ranges)) return FALSE;

	//***** YESTERDAY *****
	if($period == "yesterday"){
		$mysql_date_from = $mysql_date_to = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m"), date("d")-1, date("Y")));
		$description = "Yesterday";

	//***** THIS WEEK *****
	}elseif($period == "this week"){
		$week = date("W");
		$i = 0;
		while(date('W', strtotime("-$i day")) >= $week) {
			$mysql_date_from = date('Y-m-d', strtotime("-$i day"));
			$i++;
		}
		$mysql_date_from = date('Y-m-d', strtotime("-$i day"));
        list($yr, $mo, $da) = explode('-', $mysql_date_from);
		$mysql_date_to = date('Y-m-d', mktime(0, 0, 0, $mo, $da + 6, $yr));
		$description = "This Week";

	//***** LAST WEEK *****
	}elseif($period == "last week"){
		$week = date("W") - 1;
		$i = 0;
		while(date('W', strtotime("-$i day")) >= $week) {
			$mysql_date_from = date('Y-m-d', strtotime("-$i day"));
			$i++;
		}
		$mysql_date_from = date('Y-m-d', strtotime("-$i day"));
        list($yr, $mo, $da) = explode('-', $mysql_date_from);
		$mysql_date_to     = date('Y-m-d', mktime(0, 0, 0, $mo, $da + 6, $yr));
		$description = "Last Week";

	//***** THIS MONTH *****
	}elseif($period == "this month"){
		$mysql_date_from   = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m"), "1", date("Y")));
		$mysql_date_to     = date("Y-m-d");
		$description = date("F Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m"), "1", date("Y")));

	//***** LAST MONTH *****
	}elseif($period == "last month"){
		$mysql_date_from   = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m")-1, "1", date("Y")));
		$mysql_date_to     = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m"), date("t", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m")-1), "1", date("Y")), date("Y")));
		$description = date("F Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", date("m")-1, "1", date("Y")));

	//***** THIS YEAR *****
	}elseif($period == "this year"){
		$mysql_date_from = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", "1", "1", date("Y")));
		$mysql_date_to   = date("Y-m-d");
		$description = date("Y");

	//***** LAST YEAR *****
	}elseif($period == "last year"){
		$mysql_date_from = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", "1", "1", date("Y")-1));
		$mysql_date_to   = date("Y-m-d", mktime("0", "0", "0", "12", "31", date("Y")-1));
		$description = date("Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", "12", "31", date("Y")-1));
	}

	if($mysql_date_from && $mysql_date_to){
		//***** FORMAT DATE RANGES IN UK FORMAT *****
		list($y,$m,$d)        = explode("-", $mysql_date_from);
		$uk_date_from         = "$d/$m/$y";
		list($y,$m,$d)        = explode("-", $mysql_date_to);
		$uk_date_to           = "$d/$m/$y";

		//***** FORMAT DATE RANGES IN LONGHAND FORMAT *****
		$text_long_date_from  = date("l jS F Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", $m, $d, $y));
		$text_long_date_to    = date("l jS F Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", $m, $d, $y));

		//***** FORMAT DATE RANGES IN SHORTHAND FORMAT *****
		$text_short_date_from = date("d M Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", $m, $d, $y));
		$text_short_date_to   = date("d M Y", mktime("0", "0", "0", $m, $d, $y));

		//***** BUILD THE ARRAY *****
		$arr_date_ranges = array("date_from"   => array("mysql"       => $mysql_date_from,
		                                                "uk"          => $uk_date_from,
		                                                "text_long"   => $text_long_date_from,
		                                                "text_short"  => $text_short_date_from
		                                               ),
		                         "date_to"     => array("mysql"       => $mysql_date_to,
		                                                "uk"          => $uk_date_to,
		                                                "text_long"   => $text_long_date_to,
		                                                "text_short"  => $text_short_date_to
		                                               ),
		                         "description" => array("range"       => $period,
		                                                "description" => $description
		                                               )
		                        );
	}else{
		$arr_date_ranges = array();
	}

	return $arr_date_ranges;
}