Why using of custom date format makes my Drupal date outdated and does not change at all?

Question

I have custom installation profile and I must set date formats programmatically.

I tried:

db_insert('date_formats')
    ->fields(array(
        'format' => $format_long,  // PHP Date String
        'type' => 'custom',          // 'custom'
        'locked' => 0,               // 0 = user-specified date format
    ))
    ->execute();
variable_set('date_format_long', $format_long);

and

$format_long = 'l, Y-m-d G:h';
system_date_format_save(array(
    'is_new' => 1,
    'type' => 'custom',
    'format' => $format_long,
    'locked' => 0,
));

and set this up:

   variable_set('date_format_long', $format_long);
   variable_set('date_format_medium', $format_medium);
   variable_set('date_format_short', $format_short);

At admin/config/regional/date-time all seems to be fine but:

time is e.g 16:04 (now I have 16:38). Time changing, but on settings page time is still the same (after refresh).

I tried to create a content and at admin/content listing I have content updated date as 16:04 too... :(

If I switch to default formats all works ok.

What is wrong?

EDIT

At admin/config/regional/settings time is 16:04 too....

EDIT

I created module based on suggestion from answer, still no luck :(

define('RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_LONG', 'l, Y-m-d G:h');
define('RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_MEDIUM', 'D., Y-m-d G:h');
define('RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_SHORT', 'Y-m-d G:h');
define('RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_LONG', 'rpke_date_long');
define('RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_MEDIUM', 'rpke_date_medium');
define('RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_SHORT', 'rpke_date_short');



/**
 * Implements hook_date_format_types().
 */
function rpke_date_date_format_types() {
    $types = array();
    $types[RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_LONG] = t('Long date format for RPKE');
    $types[RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_MEDIUM] = t('Medium date format for RPKE');
    $types[RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_SHORT] = t('Short date format for RPKE');
    return $types;
}

function rpke_date_date_formats() {
    return array(
        array(
            'type' => RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_LONG,
            'format' => RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_LONG,
            'locales' => array(),
        ),
        array(
            'type' => RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_MEDIUM,
            'format' => RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_MEDIUM,
            'locales' => array(),
        ),
        array(
            'type' => RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_SHORT,
            'format' => RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_SHORT,
            'locales' => array(),
        ),
    );
}

function rpke_date_flush_caches() {
    _rpke_date_purge_date_formats();
}

function _rpke_date_purge_date_formats() {
    $format = system_get_date_formats(RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_LONG);
    variable_set('date_format_' . RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_LONG, RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_LONG);
    if (!empty($format['dfid'])) {
        system_date_format_delete($format['dfid']);
    }
    $format = system_get_date_formats(RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_MEDIUM);
    variable_set('date_format_' . RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_MEDIUM, RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_MEDIUM);
    if (!empty($format['dfid'])) {
        system_date_format_delete($format['dfid']);
    }
    $format = system_get_date_formats(RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_SHORT);
    variable_set('date_format_' . RPKE_DATE_DATE_TYPE_SHORT, RPKE_DATE_FORMAT_SHORT);
    if (!empty($format['dfid'])) {
        system_date_format_delete($format['dfid']);
    }
}

EDIT

The worst nightmare is that creating custom date format from UI (e.g. custom date format in Views) result display of wrong date too....

Answer 1

Instead of manually inserting stuff in the database, make use of the Drupal API. The blog post Exporting and maintaining custom date formats in Drupal 7 is a great tutorial. It's geared towards modules but I'm pretty sure you can do this in an install profile too.

I think this will solve your problem, and even though I'm not 100% sure, I would always recommend to use the API.

---

Here's a quick copy-paste of the most important code from that blog post, just in case the link would break in the future:

/**
 * Define and export date formats.
 */

// Give the date format type a machine name.
define('MODULENAME_DATE_TYPE', 'MODULENAME_date_type');

// Define the string to be passed to date().
define('MODULENAME_DATE_FORMAT', 'l, jS M Y ');

/**
 * Implements hook_date_formats().
 */
function MODULENAME_date_formats() {
  $formats = array();
  $formats[] = array(
    'type' => MODULENAME_DATE_TYPE,
    'format' => MODULENAME_DATE_FORMAT,
    'locales' => array(),
  );
  return $formats;
}

/**
 * Implements hook_date_format_types().
 */
function MODULENAME_date_format_types() {
  $types = array();
  $types[MODULENAME_DATE_TYPE] = t('Default date for MODULENAME');
  return $types;
}

The blog post also provides a utility function to clean up old, unused date formats:

/**
 * Delete cruft date formats from the database and resync date formats/types.
 *
 * Call this as often as required to ensure date configuration stays in-sync.
 * Don't call this on every page load. hook_flush_caches() or hook_update_N
 * are good candidates.
 */
function _MODULENAME_purge_date_formats() {
  $formats = system_get_date_formats(MODULENAME_DATE_TYPE);
  variable_set('date_format_' . MODULENAME_DATE_TYPE, MODULENAME_DATE_FORMAT);

  // Date formats without a dfid are being read directly from code. We can use
  // the existence of this value to detect "ghost" formats that are not managed
  // in this file.
  if (!empty($format['dfid'])) {
    system_date_format_delete($format['dfid']);
  }
}