- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- print_r: documentation ( source)
- date: documentation ( source)
<?php
$period_durations = [
'every_2_hours' => 2,
'every_4_hours' => 4,
'every_8_hours' => 8,
];
$period = 'every_8_hours';
$hour = (int) date('G');
$duration = $period_durations[$period];
$hour = ((int)($hour/$duration)+1)*$duration; // drop remainder
var_dump($hour);
$dateTime = new DateTime();
$dateTime->setTime($hour, 0, 0);
print_r($dateTime);