Get raw date and time from field handler in a View

I'm having the same problem- I'm writing a View style plugin, and need to get the unformatted date and time just like you. The first two lines below return the full HTML rendered value, while the last one returns nothing. I would expect pre_render to return a validated but unformatted date... I'd really appreciate some guidance here.

<?php
$view->render_field('date_field_id', $row_number);
$view->field['date_field_id']->render($row_result);
$view->field['date_field_id']->pre_render($row_result);
?>

You can of course get the raw value directly from each $row in $view->result using the field alias-

<?php
$date_field_alias = $view->display_handler->get_handler('field', 'date_field_id')->field_alias;
foreach ($view->result as $row_number => $row_result) {
  print($row_result->$date_field_alias);
}
?>

... but this is very hackish I think, and generally discouraged as it avoids all built-in validation/processing/formatting mechanisms. Which may be what you want I suppose, but I'd prefer to have at least basic validation, just no formatting. Plus, that's a heck of a lot more code than just using something like <?php $view->field['date_field_id']->pre_render($row_result); ?>

Maybe I am way off base, but why not just use various date formats? Set up your formats here: /admin/settings/date-time/formats. You might set up a format that only has the date, only the time, only the hour, etc.
Then, you can add multiple date fields to your views fields list, each with a different format
Then, display and theme them however you wish.

Glad to see you get what you wanted.

To split the start time from the end time, I think you can still do it with formats.
In the views field display settings, there is an option below the Format option to either:
1.) Display from and To dates
2.) Display from date only
3.) Display to date only

Would that get you the rest of the way there?

Exactly.

Unless I'm missing something here, you're still getting the date wrapped in all of the HTML, correct? Didn't you want it in a more raw format?

I don't know if this helps, but you should select "Strip HTML tags" in the options for the view. It worked for me.

This [#4] is exactly what i needed thanks