php / php/php-src

Miscalculation of a date using microseconds

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Bug Extension: date Status: Needs Triage
Dominant language
C
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Description

Description

The following code:

<?php
date_default_timezone_set("UTC");

$beginningOfYear = new \DateTimeImmutable('1st january this year')
    ->setTime(0, 0);
$endOfYear = new \DateTimeImmutable('31th december this year')
    ->setTime(23, 59, 59, 999999);


$uuThisYear = (int) $endOfYear->format('Uu') - (int) $beginningOfYear->format('Uu');
$sThisYear = (int) $endOfYear->format('U') - (int) $beginningOfYear->format('U');
$usThisYear = (int) $endOfYear->format('u') - (int) $beginningOfYear->format('u');

$uuThisYear2 = (int) ($sThisYear . $usThisYear);

echo "<pre>" . var_export([
    'from' => $beginningOfYear,
    'fromMs' => (int) $beginningOfYear->format('Uu'),
    'to' => $endOfYear,
    'toMs' => (int) $endOfYear->format('Uu'),
    'nbMicrosecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => $uuThisYear,
    'nbMicrosecondsBetweenToAndFromOtherCalculation' => $uuThisYear2,
    'equal' => $uuThisYear === $uuThisYear2,
    'nbSecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => $sThisYear,
    'nbUsecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => $usThisYear,
    'shouldEqualToFromButDoesntWork' => (clone $endOfYear)->modify('-' . $uuThisYear . ' µsec'),
    'shouldEqualToFromWorks' => (clone $endOfYear)
        ->modify('-' . $sThisYear . ' seconds')
        ->modify('-' . $usThisYear . ' microseconds'),
], true);

Resulted in this output:

array (
  'from' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-01-01 00:00:00.000000',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
  'fromMs' => 1735689600000000,
  'to' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-12-31 23:59:59.999999',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
  'toMs' => 1767225599999999,
  'nbMicrosecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => 31535999999999,
  'nbMicrosecondsBetweenToAndFromOtherCalculation' => 31535999999999,
  'equal' => true,
  'nbSecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => 31535999,
  'nbUsecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => 999999,
  'shouldEqualToFromButDoesntWork' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2026-01-01 09:59:59.999998',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
  'shouldEqualToFromWorks' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-01-01 00:00:00.000000',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
)

But I expected this output instead:

array (
  'from' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-01-01 00:00:00.000000',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
  'fromMs' => 1735689600000000,
  'to' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-12-31 23:59:59.999999',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
  'toMs' => 1767225599999999,
  'nbMicrosecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => 31535999999999,
  'nbMicrosecondsBetweenToAndFromOtherCalculation' => 31535999999999,
  'equal' => true,
  'nbSecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => 31535999,
  'nbUsecondsBetweenToAndFrom' => 999999,
  'shouldEqualToFromButDoesntWork' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-01-01 00:00:00.000000',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
  'shouldEqualToFromWorks' => 
  \DateTimeImmutable::__set_state(array(
     'date' => '2025-01-01 00:00:00.000000',
     'timezone_type' => 3,
     'timezone' => 'UTC',
  )),
)

Check the "shouldEqualToFromButDoesntWork" value.

PHP Version
8.4.14
Operating System

Mint 22.2 Zara

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the DateTimeImmutable::modify('-... µsec') case from the issue on PHP 8.4.14, then trace the date/time implementation that handles microsecond modifiers. Compare it with the separate seconds-and-microseconds calls; done when the single microsecond subtraction produces the same 2025-01-01 00:00:00.000000 result.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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