/** * Convert string to DateTime * * @param string $value * @param bool $midnight * @return DateTime */ public static function createFromFormat($value, $format, $midnight = TRUE) { if ($value === null) { $now = new \DateTime(); //because of php 5.3 I have to split it to two lines. $dt = $now->setTimestamp(0); //oldest date } else { $dt = date_create_from_format($format, $value); } if ($midnight) { $dt->setTime(0, 0, 0); } return $dt; }