PHP: Time validation RegEx?

Question

I am using following regex to validate date in format dd/mm/yyyy in php:

preg_match("/([0-9]{2})\/([0-9]{2})\/([0-9]{4})/", $e_startdate, $matches)

But what will be the regex to validate time in the format 10:20 PM or AM. I want a regex which will validate following format for me.

<number><number><colon><number><number><space><AM or PM>

Thanks

Answer 1

You can use the regex:

(0[0-9]|1[0-2]):[0-5][0-9] [AP]M

Answer 2

Check this one http://regexlib.com/REDetails.aspx?regexp_id=1010

Answer 3

/\d{2}:\d{2} (AM|PM)/

Answer 4

The following should validate the format you requested:

preg_match("/(\d{2}):(\d{2}) (AM|PM)/", $e_startdate, $matches);

Note that this is not necessarily a valid time. You could enter stuff like 32:62 AM. You need something like this for time validation:

preg_match("/(0?\d|1[0-2]):(0\d|[0-5]\d) (AM|PM)/i", $e_startdate, $matches);

Mind to match the whole thing case-insensitive (like i did in the second example). Otherwise lowercase am, pm, etc. are not going to work.