Hello,
This should be a relatively easy one (I think).

In PHP, how do you say now minus 2.5 minutes (or rather 2.5 minutes ago)?

It would also be incredibly helpful if someone could point out how its possible to say within x amount of minutes, e.g.
$query = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE name = 'jack' and born = {within the last 15 minutes} Limit 0,1"

Any help & advice would be appreciated.

For the PHP time() - (150); is 2.5 minutes ago. You substract seconds. You can also use math, time() - (2.5 * 60); is 2.5 minutes ago also. That makes it easier for larger values (such as days or years even). For the sql you just use >.

PHP Code:

$fifteen_ago = time() - (15 * 60);
$query = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE name='jack' and born > $fifteen_ago LIMIT 0,1";
//This is assuming that baby jack was inserted with a now() fifteen minutes ago or sooner. 


I may be too tired to be programming at the moment, so it may be < not >

In mysql:

SELECT * 
FROM table 
WHERE name = 'jack' 
and born between now()-interval 15 minute and now()
Limit 0,1

select now()-interval 15 minute as past, now() as present;
+---------------------+---------------------+
| past                | present             |
+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2008-06-17 13:18:28 | 2008-06-17 13:33:28 |
+---------------------+---------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

It's that simple in mysql 5. Cehck the documentation for older versions, you might need to use date_add() or date_sub().

Appreciate the responses, I'll test them out in about 5 hours time.

tripy, is that mysql the actual code to use?! I'm a bit stunned how english-friendly that syntax is!
I'm no expert in SQL hence why I'm struggling on this issue.

How I've forgotten the mysql CLI

I should also point out that values inserted into the `born` field are done by using NOW() and the field-type is DATETIME right to the second (e.g. 2008-06-17 12:41:50).

Originally Posted by Arenlor

How I've forgotten the mysql CLI

Erm, "CLI"?

CLI is command line interface, his second quote is from it.

Hey guys,

I've just tested the "BETWEEN now( ) - INTERVAL 2 MINUTE AND now()" SQL code and seems to work OK (that is, the result is as expected).

Seems I've learnt something new about SQL today

Thanks a lot.

tripy, is that mysql the actual code to use?! I'm a bit stunned how english-friendly that syntax is!

Well, yes, as you have already seen.
SQL is not that hard, and when dealing with datas coming from a DB, you can simplify your PHP code a lot by using the DB included functions.
The hard part is that it's a language with a semantic and an orientation that's not similar to the usual (read PHP, python, ruby, C#, java and almost anything).
Hence so many peoples are uncomfortable with it.