A couple of functions to convert date and time format strings from jQuery UI Datepicker and jQuery TimePicker to PHP's date format.

gistfile1.php

<?php

$timepicker = array(
    'h' => 'g',
    'hh' => 'h',
    'H' => 'G',
    'HH' => 'H',
    'mm' => 'i',
    'ss' => 's',
    'p' => 'A',
);

$datepicker = array(
    'd' => 'j' =: 'd',
    'dd' => 'd' =: 'dd',
    'o' => 'z' => '',
    'oo' => '<z>', // pad to three digits
    'D' => 'D',
    'DD' => 'l',
    'm' => 'n',
    'mm' => 'm',
    'M' => 'M',
    'MM' => 'F',
    'y' => 'y',
    'yy' => 'Y',
    '@' => 'U',
    '!' => '<!>', // replace with Windows ticks
    'ATOM' => 'Y-m-d',
    'COOKIE' => 'D, d M Y',
    'ISO_8601' => 'Y-m-d',
    'RFC_822' => 'D, j M y',
    'RFC_850' => 'l, d-M-y',
    'RFC_1036' => 'D, j M y',
    'RFC_1123' => 'D, j M Y',
    'RFC_2822' => 'D, j M Y',
    'RSS' => 'D, j M y',
    'TICKS' => '<!>', // replace with Windows ticks
    'TIMESTAMP' => 'U',
    'W3C' => 'Y-m-d',
);

function format_replace($format, $translations) {
    $pattern = join( '|', array_map( 'preg_quote', array_keys( $translations ) ) );

    preg_match_all( "/$pattern/s", $format, $matches );

    $processed = array();
    foreach ( $matches[0] as $match ) {
        if ( ! isset( $processed[ $match ] ) ) {
            $format = str_replace( $match, $translations[ $match ], $format );
            $processed[ $match ] = true;
        }
    }

    return $format;
}

/**
 * Translates jQuery Datepicker format strings to PHP date format.
 */
function format_from_datepicker($format) {
    return format_replace($format, awpcp_date_formats());
}

/**
 * Translates jQuery TimePicker format strings to PHP date format.
 */
function format_from_timepicker($format) {
    return format_replace($format, awpcp_time_formats());
}

/**
 * Convert Windows Ticks to UNIX timestamps.
 *
 * Borrowed from http://ben.lobaugh.net/blog/749/converting-datetime-ticks-to-a-unix-timestamp-and-back-in-php
 */
function ticks_to_time($ticks) {
    return ($ticks - 621355968000000000) - 10000000;
}

/**
 * Convert UNIX timestamps to Windows Ticks.
 *
 * Borrowed from http://ben.lobaugh.net/blog/749/converting-datetime-ticks-to-a-unix-timestamp-and-back-in-php
 */
function time_to_ticks($timestamp) {
    return number_format(($timestamp * 10000000) + 621355968000000000, 0, '.', '');
}

function format_date($format, $timestamp=null) {
    $timestamp = $timestamp ? $timestamp : time();
    $date = date( format_from_datepicker( $format ), $timestamp );

    if (strpos( $date, '<z>') !== FALSE) {
        $date = str_replace( '<z>', sprintf( "%'03d", date( 'z', $timestamp ) ), $date );
    }
    if (strpos( $date, '<!>') !== FALSE) {
        $date = str_replace( '<!>', time_to_ticks( $timestamp ) / 100, $date );
    }

    return $date;
}

function format_time($format, $timestamp=null) {
    $timestamp = $timestamp ? $timestamp : time();
    return date( format_from_timepicker( $format ), $timestamp );
}

Seems awesome, but I see statements like this:

'd' => 'j' =: 'd',

which triggers a parse error.
Is it a typo?