How to compare two dates in Objective-C

Question

I have two dates: 2009-05-11 and the current date. I want to check whether the given date is the current date or not. How is this possible.

Enough

Looking at the answers, it is not clear if you want to literally compare two NSDate instances for equality (same point in time) or want to know if they are in the same calendar day. – Potluck

Answer 1

Cocoa has couple of methods for this:

in NSDate

– isEqualToDate:  
– earlierDate:  
– laterDate:  
– compare:

When you use - (NSComparisonResult)compare:(NSDate *)anotherDate ,you get back one of these:

The receiver and anotherDate are exactly equal to each other, NSOrderedSame
The receiver is later in time than anotherDate, NSOrderedDescending
The receiver is earlier in time than anotherDate, NSOrderedAscending.

example:

NSDate * now = [NSDate date];
NSDate * mile = [[NSDate alloc] initWithString:@"2001-03-24 10:45:32 +0600"];
NSComparisonResult result = [now compare:mile];

NSLog(@"%@", now);
NSLog(@"%@", mile);

switch (result)
{
    case NSOrderedAscending: NSLog(@"%@ is in future from %@", mile, now); break;
    case NSOrderedDescending: NSLog(@"%@ is in past from %@", mile, now); break;
    case NSOrderedSame: NSLog(@"%@ is the same as %@", mile, now); break;
    default: NSLog(@"erorr dates %@, %@", mile, now); break;
}

[mile release];

Braithwaite

How does this answer the original question of "whether the given date is the current date or not"? [NSDate date] will be NSOrderedSame to any fixed date not for 24 hours but for less than a second. – Nidia

This does not work for iOS. See accepted answer on: #14703126 – Blakemore

@HappyFlow the question is tagged cocoa it does not mention iOS, for more info try google "cocoa" vs "cocoa touch" – Braithwaite

@Braithwaite My bad, I didn't see that. – Blakemore

@AlexanderofNorway This does indeed work for iOS since iOS2.0 according to Apple docs: developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/…: – Dayfly

Answer 2

Here buddy. This function will match your date with any specific date and will be able to tell whether they match or not. You can also modify the components to match your requirements.

- (BOOL)isSameDay:(NSDate*)date1 otherDay:(NSDate*)date2 {
NSCalendar* calendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];

unsigned unitFlags = NSYearCalendarUnit | NSMonthCalendarUnit |  NSDayCalendarUnit;
NSDateComponents* comp1 = [calendar components:unitFlags fromDate:date1];
NSDateComponents* comp2 = [calendar components:unitFlags fromDate:date2];

return [comp1 day]   == [comp2 day] &&
[comp1 month] == [comp2 month] &&
[comp1 year]  == [comp2 year];}

Regards, Naveed Butt

Landside

This is the correct answer. While the top answer may be more general, this provides a solution specific to the problem presented. – Wei

JUST PERFECT!! WAS TRYING SEVERAL METHODS THIS CAME HANDY – Bazan

@Naveed Rafi This is the most precise und useful answer I have seen on StackOverflow for the 2 years I'm enjoying its services. – Knish

Answer 3

NSDate *today = [NSDate date]; // it will give you current date
NSDate *newDate = [NSDate dateWithString:@"xxxxxx"]; // your date 

NSComparisonResult result; 
//has three possible values: NSOrderedSame,NSOrderedDescending, NSOrderedAscending

result = [today compare:newDate]; // comparing two dates

if(result==NSOrderedAscending)
    NSLog(@"today is less");
else if(result==NSOrderedDescending)
    NSLog(@"newDate is less");
else
    NSLog(@"Both dates are same");

There are other ways that you may use to compare an NSDate objects. Each of the methods will be more efficient at certain tasks. I have chosen the compare method because it will handle most of your basic date comparison needs.

Lilytrotter

Answer 4

This category offers a neat way to compare NSDates:

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

@interface NSDate (Compare)

-(BOOL) isLaterThanOrEqualTo:(NSDate*)date;
-(BOOL) isEarlierThanOrEqualTo:(NSDate*)date;
-(BOOL) isLaterThan:(NSDate*)date;
-(BOOL) isEarlierThan:(NSDate*)date;
//- (BOOL)isEqualToDate:(NSDate *)date; already part of the NSDate API

@end

And the implementation:

#import "NSDate+Compare.h"

@implementation NSDate (Compare)

-(BOOL) isLaterThanOrEqualTo:(NSDate*)date {
    return !([self compare:date] == NSOrderedAscending);
}

-(BOOL) isEarlierThanOrEqualTo:(NSDate*)date {
    return !([self compare:date] == NSOrderedDescending);
}
-(BOOL) isLaterThan:(NSDate*)date {
    return ([self compare:date] == NSOrderedDescending);

}
-(BOOL) isEarlierThan:(NSDate*)date {
    return ([self compare:date] == NSOrderedAscending);
}

@end

Simple to use:

if([aDateYouWantToCompare isEarlierThanOrEqualTo:[NSDate date]]) // [NSDate date] is now
{
    // do your thing ...
}

Ailina

thank you! This is a lot better than having code with the NSComparisonResults -- incomprehensible for dates -- directly in it. – Houseboy

Apple should consider implementing this. Far easier than creating switch statements for earlier than or equal to and later than or equal to. – Lumberman

Answer 5

If you make both dates NSDates you can use NSDate's compare: method:

NSComparisonResult result = [Date2 compare:Date1];

if(result==NSOrderedAscending)
    NSLog(@"Date1 is in the future");
else if(result==NSOrderedDescending)
    NSLog(@"Date1 is in the past");
else
    NSLog(@"Both dates are the same");

You can take a look at the docs here.

Civilization

Answer 6

By this method also you can compare two dates

NSDate * dateOne = [NSDate date];
NSDate * dateTwo = [NSDate date];

if([dateOne compare:dateTwo] == NSOrderedAscending)
{

}

Exportation

Interesting constants to compare with might be: NSOrderedAscending, NSOrderedSame and NSOrderedDescending, but the OP probably wants NSOrderedSame for his particular problem. – Award

Answer 7

The best way I found was to check the difference between the given date and today:

NSCalendar* calendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSDate* now = [NSDate date];
int differenceInDays =
[calendar ordinalityOfUnit:NSCalendarUnitDay inUnit:NSCalendarUnitEra forDate:date] -
[calendar ordinalityOfUnit:NSCalendarUnitDay inUnit:NSCalendarUnitEra forDate:now];

According to Listing 13 of Calendrical Calculations in Apple's Date and Time Programming Guide [NSCalendar ordinalityOfUnit:NSDayCalendarUnit inUnit: NSEraCalendarUnit forDate:myDate] gives you the number of midnights since the start of the era. This way it's easy to check whether the date is yesterday, today, or tomorrow.

switch (differenceInDays) {
    case -1:
        dayString = @"Yesterday";
        break;
    case 0:
        dayString = @"Today";
        break;
    case 1:
        dayString = @"Tomorrow";
        break;
    default: {
        NSDateFormatter* dayFormatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
        [dayFormatter setLocale:usLocale];
        [dayFormatter setDateFormat:@"dd MMM"];
        dayString = [dayFormatter stringFromDate: date];
        break;
    }
}

Nidia

Answer 8

NSDateFormatter *df= [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];

[df setDateFormat:@"yyyy-MM-dd"];

NSDate *dt1 = [[NSDate alloc] init];

NSDate *dt2 = [[NSDate alloc] init];

dt1=[df dateFromString:@"2011-02-25"];

dt2=[df dateFromString:@"2011-03-25"];

NSComparisonResult result = [dt1 compare:dt2];

switch (result)
{

        case NSOrderedAscending: NSLog(@"%@ is greater than %@", dt2, dt1); break;

        case NSOrderedDescending: NSLog(@"%@ is less %@", dt2, dt1); break;

        case NSOrderedSame: NSLog(@"%@ is equal to %@", dt2, dt1); break;

        default: NSLog(@"erorr dates %@, %@", dt2, dt1); break;

}

Enjoy coding......

Jonme

Answer 9

In Cocoa, to compare dates, use one of isEqualToDate, compare, laterDate, and earlierDate methods on NSDate objects, instantiated with the dates you need.

Documentation:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDate_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/instm/NSDate/isEqualToDate:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDate_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/instm/NSDate/earlierDate:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDate_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/instm/NSDate/laterDate:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDate_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/instm/NSDate/compare:

Medicaid

Answer 10

What you really need is to compare two objects of the same kind.

1. Create an NSDate out of your string date (@"2009-05-11") :
   http://blog.evandavey.com/2008/12/how-to-convert-a-string-to-nsdate.html

2. If the current date is a string too, make it an NSDate. If its already an NSDate, leave it.

Flavourful

You can't compare two objects, by using == – Studhorse

my mistake, answered another question at the same time. Thank you for commenting that. – Flavourful

Answer 11

Here's the Swift variant on Pascal's answer:

extension NSDate {

    func isLaterThanOrEqualTo(date:NSDate) -> Bool {
        return !(self.compare(date) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedAscending)
    }

    func isEarlierThanOrEqualTo(date:NSDate) -> Bool {
        return !(self.compare(date) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedDescending)
    }

    func isLaterThan(date:NSDate) -> Bool {
        return (self.compare(date) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedDescending)
    }

    func isEarlierThan(date:NSDate) -> Bool {
        return (self.compare(date) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedAscending)
    }
}

Which can be used as:

self.expireDate.isEarlierThanOrEqualTo(NSDate())

Reconnaissance

Answer 12

Here's the function from Naveed Rafi's answer converted to Swift if anyone else is looking for it:

func isSameDate(#date1: NSDate, date2: NSDate) -> Bool {
    let calendar = NSCalendar()
    let date1comp = calendar.components(.YearCalendarUnit | .MonthCalendarUnit | .DayCalendarUnit, fromDate: date1)
    let date2comp = calendar.components(.YearCalendarUnit | .MonthCalendarUnit | .DayCalendarUnit, fromDate: date2)
    return (date1comp.year == date2comp.year) && (date1comp.month == date2comp.month) && (date1comp.day == date2comp.day)
}

Marabout

Answer 13

Get Today's Date:

NSDate* date = [NSDate date];

Create a Date From Scratch:    
NSDateComponents* comps = [[NSDateComponents alloc]init];
comps.year = 2015;
comps.month = 12;
comps.day = 31;
NSCalendar* calendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSDate* date = [calendar dateFromComponents:comps];


Add a day to a Date:  
NSDate* date = [NSDate date];
NSDateComponents* comps = [[NSDateComponents alloc]init];
comps.day = 1;
NSCalendar* calendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSDate* tomorrow = [calendar dateByAddingComponents:comps toDate:date options:nil];


Subtract a day from a Date:    
NSDate* date = [NSDate date];
NSDateComponents* comps = [[NSDateComponents alloc]init];
comps.day = -1;
NSCalendar* calendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSDate* yesterday = [calendar dateByAddingComponents:comps toDate:date options:nil];



Convert a Date to a String:  

NSDate* date = [NSDate date];
NSDateFormatter* formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
formatter.dateFormat = @"MMMM dd, yyyy";
NSString* dateString = [formatter stringFromDate:date];


Convert a String to a Date:

NSDateFormatter* formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc]init];
formatter.dateFormat = @"MMMM dd, yyyy";
NSDate* date = [formatter dateFromString:@"August 02, 2014"];


Find how many days are in a month:    
NSDate* date = [NSDate date];
NSCalendar* cal = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSRange currentRange = [cal rangeOfUnit:NSDayCalendarUnit inUnit:NSMonthCalendarUnit forDate:date];
NSInteger numberOfDays = currentRange.length;


Calculate how much time something took:   

NSDate* start = [NSDate date];
for(int i = 0; i < 1000000000; i++);
NSDate* end = [NSDate date];
NSTimeInterval duration = [end timeIntervalSinceDate:start];


Find the Day Of Week for a specific Date:

NSDate* date = [NSDate date];
NSCalendar* cal = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
NSInteger dow = [cal ordinalityOfUnit:NSWeekdayCalendarUnit inUnit:NSWeekCalendarUnit forDate:date];

Then use NSComparisonResult to compare date.

Kiser

Answer 14

..

NSString *date = @"2009-05-11"
NSString *nowDate = [[[NSDate date]description]substringToIndex: 10];
if([date isEqualToString: nowDate])
{
// your code
}

Studhorse

I think it'd be much more useful to turn "date" into an NSDate object and then compare NSDate objects. This code will work, but substringToIndex:10 is really a hack. If you need more information, such as which date is more recent - you'd need to do it that way, too. – Pyrometer

Of course, you can compare NSDate objects. But NSDate has information about Date and TIME Your need 1. Create NSDate from string 2. REmove from current-date information about time (set time to 00:00:00) And only after that compare dates. I think that this way is not easy and quick. – Studhorse

If you're only interested in the day itself, you can create NSDates then use NSCalendar to get NSDateComponents out of it, at which point you can numerically compare just the values you're interested in. You could also get components for the number of days since the epoch, to use in a single comparison. – Resultant

You shouldn't compare by substring'ing a NSDate description because Apple can change the format and then this wouldn't work anymore. I tell this because thats the same reason why my App has started crashing on new OS update. – Fortenberry