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What’s the right syntax to do something like this?

$this_date = {entry_date format="%Y-%m-%d"};

The issue is parse order related.

If you parse php on input the {entry_date format="%Y-%m-%d} will not have been parsed by EE and php will see it as a literal string.  Furthermore, as you have it posted, php will cause an error since {entry_date format=""%Y-%m-%d} is not enclosed in ‘’.

If you parse php on output then EE will parse the {...} but as pointed out above it still would need to be enclosed in ‘’.

Your code would be:

<?php
$this_date = '{entry_date format="%Y-%m-%d"}';
?>

Herb, thanks so much. I always have trouble with the mixed syntax. I’m very comfortable with PHP syntax but the EE template language throws me thru a loop!

Thanks so much for the great reply. This was very helpful.

depending on what you’re doing with that variable within PHP, it might be easier to leave it unformatted by EE and use the PHP date functions on it.

<?php
    $this_date = {entry_date}; // no quotes needed because it is an integer not a string
    $this_formatted_date = date("Y-m-d", $this_date);
?>

Ender that’s a better solution I think! Shortly after my post that’s what I ended up doing:

$thid_date = date('Y-m-d', {entry_date});