How can I set the postDate and expiryDate from a front-end date picker via plugin?

Question

I am working on a plugin that has a date picker only (no time). I am attempting to set the postDate to the value of whatever date was chosen on the front-end. I realize I need to save in this format: Y-m-d H:i:s

$start = craft()->request->getPost('startDate'); // 09/27/2015

// I'm not doing this right as it returns nothing.
$post = DateTime::createFromString($start); 

// Returns a datetime object, but doesn't save.
$post = new \DateTime($start); 

DateTime Object (
    [date] => 2015-09-27 00:00:00.000000  // trim the last decimal?
    [timezone_type] => 3
    [timezone] => UTC
)

I don't really care what the time is. It could always be midnight, or get the current time from the server. What is the best way to "assemble" the datetime?

Answer 1

I believe I have figured it out, please correct me so I can update the answer if I am too far off.

TL;DR:

I am using a date picker (no time) on a front-end form. The user chooses a date and it comes across as 09/27/2015. Here is how I converted that string to a dateTime object that I could set as post & expiry date for a newly created entry.

NOTE: I have not included any validation at this point which should be carefully considered.

MyPlugin.php

// Get the current time zone from the system.
date_default_timezone_set(craft()->timezone);

// Get the current time
$time = date('H:i:s');

// Create the post dateTime
$postDate = date('Y-m-d', strtotime(craft()->request->getPost('postDate')));
$postDateTime = $postDate . ' ' . $time;

// Create the expiry dateTime.
$expireDate = date('Y-m-d', strtotime(craft()->request->getPost('expiryDate')));
$expireDateTime = $expireDate . ' ' . $time;

// Create the DateTime object to send to Craft.
$postDate = new \DateTime($postDateTime);
$expiryDate = new \DateTime($expireDateTime);

// Put it all together.
$entry = new EntryModel();

$entry->sectionId = 3;
$entry->typeId = 1;
$entry->enabled = true;
$entry->postDate = $postDate;
$entry->expiryDate = $expiryDate;

...

if(craft()->entries->saveEntry($entry)) {
    // Success
} else {
    // Fail
}