PHP and MySQL: Retrieve data based on user-specified time zones

Within my database, there is a table that tracks hits at different times. An example of this table looks like:

id |      datetime         |  ...
-----------------------------------
1  |  2014-05-30 15:19:00  |  ...
2  |  2014-06-01 12:14:00  |  ...
3  |  2014-06-04 13:06:00  |  ...
4  |  2014-06-04 17:26:00  |  ...
5  |          ...          |  ...

Users have the ability to generate reports based on date range preferences, but I want to allow them to choose their preferred time zone.

Currently, I use queries similar to the one below to select columns for today:

... WHERE datetime >= CURDATE()

I am unsure if it would be better to store dates as Unix time. Despite researching extensively on Google, I am still confused about which approach to take.

Since this query will be executed frequently, optimizing performance is crucial.

phpmysqldatetimetimezoneunix-timestamp

Answer №1

To set the timezone based on the user's country name, you can collect their timezone preference and adjust it accordingly:

SET time_zone = 'Europe/Helsinki';

If you need to filter results by date ranges, you can use a standard where condition like this:

select * from table where hit_date>=startdate and hit_date<enddate

Improving Performance:

To enhance performance, consider creating an index with the datetime column. Just keep in mind that using an index on something that is frequently updated may not be advisable.

Note:

Suppose you store page hit dates in your local timezone, such as Asia/Beijing, but the user prefers 'Europe/Helsinki'. In such cases, remember to convert the time zone appropriately before running the query for accurate results:

SELECT CONVERT_TZ('2004-01-01 12:00:00','Asia/Beijing','Europe/Helsinki');

In simple terms, make sure to determine the correct time in your timezone before executing the user's query since the database was populated based on your timezone.

User's time zone---------->Your time zone-------------->Query

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