While developing an application there are certain scenarios where you may need to compare two dates which are in different format. Here I am sharing a code which compares two provided dates which can be in any format.
As you can see in the below example that we have created a method where you need to provide the from date format, to date format and from/to date.
package beginnersbook.com;
import java.text.ParseException;
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
class Details{
public static void main(String args[])throws ParseException
{
Details obj = new Details();
String str= obj.datecheckcmp("dd/MM/yyyy", "MM/dd/yyyy", "27/12/2013", "11/28/2013");
System.out.println(str);
}
String datecheckcmp(String fromDateFormat, String toDateFormat,
String fromdate, String todate)throws ParseException
{
String CheckFormat = "dd-MMM-yyyy";
String dateStringFrom;
String dateStringTo;
Date DF = new Date();
Date DT = new Date();
int flagtodate=0;
int flagfromdate=0;
try
{
//DateFormatdf = DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.SHORT);
DateFormat FromDF = new SimpleDateFormat(fromDateFormat);
FromDF.setLenient(false); // this is important!
Date FromDate = FromDF.parse(fromdate);
dateStringFrom = new SimpleDateFormat(CheckFormat).format(FromDate);
DateFormat FromDF1 = new SimpleDateFormat(CheckFormat);
DF=FromDF1.parse(dateStringFrom);
System.out.println("Date is ok = " + dateStringFrom);
}
catch (ParseException e)
{
flagfromdate = 1;
}
catch (IllegalArgumentException e)
{
flagfromdate = 1;
}
try
{
//DateFormatdf = DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.SHORT);
DateFormat ToDF = new SimpleDateFormat(toDateFormat);
ToDF.setLenient(false); // this is important!
Date ToDate = ToDF.parse(todate);
dateStringTo = new SimpleDateFormat(CheckFormat).format(ToDate);
DateFormat ToDF1 = new SimpleDateFormat(CheckFormat);
DT=ToDF1.parse(dateStringTo);
System.out.println("Date is ok = " + dateStringTo);
}
catch (ParseException e)
{
flagtodate=1;
}
catch (IllegalArgumentException e)
{
flagtodate=1;
}
if(flagfromdate == 0 &&flagtodate==0)
{
if(DF.equals(DT))
{
// if the date is same
return "FromDate and ToDate are same";
}
else if(DF.before(DT))
{
//if the from date is before the to date
return "FromDate is less than ToDate";
}
else
{
// if the date from is after the to date
return "FromDate is greater than the ToDate";
}
}
return "Error";
}
}
Output:
Date is ok = 27-Dec-2013 Date is ok = 28-Nov-2013 FromDate is greater than the ToDate