Input Field to Laravel save: store datetime when adding just the date

Goal:

• have two columns (datetime) save an input field that only takes in date

I would like the start date to save 11/11/2021 00:00:00 and the end date 11/12/2021 23:59:59 (only the date can be changed) from a text field that a user can only place a date in the text field:

<div class="row" id="custom_date">
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <p class="font-weight-bold">From:</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-8">
    <input type="date" id="custom_start_datetime" name="custom_start_datetime">
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-4">
    <p class="font-weight-bold">To:</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-8">
    <input type="date" id="custom_end_datetime" name="custom_end_datetime">
  </div>
 </div>

snippet of my store function:

            $shift->effective_start_datetime = $request_add->input('effective_start_datetime'); 
            $shift->effective_end_datetime = $request_add->input('effective_end_datetime'); 

the code above gives an error because the row is in timestamp without time zone and it gets the data from the text fields that only takes in the date and no time.

What can I change in my function code to have the date save but in the h/m/s format it could have 00:00:00 for the start_datetime and 23:59:59 end_datetime automatically?

for example, if I input in the two text fields 08/11/2021 and 08/13/2021 it will be saved as: 08/11/2021 00:00:00 and 08/13/2021 23:59:59

Answer

You can use Carbon class to manipulate your dates, so, if you want to put the time, you can use parse method and use startOfDay and endOfDay methods.

Example:

$startDate = Carbon::parse($firstDate)->startOfDay();  // Will return a Carbon Instance at 00:00:00
$endDate = Carbon::parse($secondDate)->endOfDay();  // Will return a Carbon Instance at 23:59:59

These methods will solve your problem, and if you need a time zone, you can use toISOString method after startOfDay and endOfDay, that is the default format of API response.

$endDate = Carbon::parse($secondDate)->endOfDay()->toISOString();  // 2021-08-12T23:21:54.788279Z