compare.php

<?
    function _compare_dates($utc_date_str, $date_obj){
        $date1 = DateTime::createFromFormat(DateTime::ISO8601, $utc_date_str);
        $date2 = clone($date_obj);

        print "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n";
        var_dump("Non-UTC Date1:");
        var_dump($date1);
        var_dump("Non-UTC Date2:");
        var_dump($date2);

        $utc = new DateTimeZone('UTC');
        $date1->setTimezone($utc);
        $date2->setTimezone($utc);

        $date1->setTime(0, 0, 0);
        $date2->setTime(0, 0, 0);


        var_dump("UTC Date1:");
        var_dump($date1);
        var_dump("UTC Date2:");
        var_dump($date2);
        var_dump("Are these the same?");
        var_dump(($date1 == $date2));
        print "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n";
        return ($date1 == $date2);


    }

string(14) "Non-UTC Date1:"
object(DateTime)#6 (3) {
  ["date"]=>
  string(19) "2013-08-09 00:00:00"
  ["timezone_type"]=>
  int(1)
  ["timezone"]=>
  string(6) "+02:00"
}
string(14) "Non-UTC Date2:"
object(DateTime)#5 (3) {
  ["date"]=>
  string(19) "2013-08-08 15:29:46"
  ["timezone_type"]=>
  int(3)
  ["timezone"]=>
  string(13) "Europe/London"
}
string(10) "UTC Date1:"
object(DateTime)#6 (3) {
  ["date"]=>
  string(19) "2013-08-08 00:00:00"
  ["timezone_type"]=>
  int(3)
  ["timezone"]=>
  string(3) "UTC"
}
string(10) "UTC Date2:"
object(DateTime)#5 (3) {
  ["date"]=>
  string(19) "2013-08-08 00:00:00"
  ["timezone_type"]=>
  int(3)
  ["timezone"]=>
  string(3) "UTC"
}
string(19) "Are these the same?"
bool(true)