- var_dump: documentation ( source)
<?php
$date1 = new DateTime('2014-08-26 14:35:29');
$date2 = new DateTime();
// The diff-methods returns a new DateInterval-object...
$diff = $date2->diff($date1);
echo $diff->format('%a Day and %h hours');
echo "\n";
var_dump($diff);
echo"\n\n";
echo $diff->h;