Compare a date in a given period

Question

I want to compare a date in a given period. I use the methods before and after. here is my method.

public boolean compareDatePeriod() throws ParseException
{
    [.....]
    if (period.getDateStart().after(dateLine)){
        if (period.getDateEnd().before(dateLine)){
            result = true;
          }
      }
    ;
    return result;
}

if my dateLine = "01/01/2012" and my period.getDateStart () = "01/01/2012". I return false. I do not understand why?

what is datatype of your `period` and `dartLine`? – Vaandu Jan 06 '12 at 10:18 — Vaandu, Jan 06 '12 at 10:18
datatype of your period and dartLine : Date – Mercer Jan 06 '12 at 10:29 — Mercer, Jan 06 '12 at 10:29

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 06 '12 at 10:18

1

If you would kindly check the Java documentation before posting your question, you would know that the method after returns :

true if and only if the instant represented by this Date object is strictly later than the instant represented by when; false otherwise.

In your case, the dates are equal which means they are not strictly later. Thus it will return false

UPDATE:

public boolean compareDatePeriod() throws ParseException
{
    [.....]
    if (!period.getDateStart().equals(dateLine)) {
        if (period.getDateStart().after(dateLine)){
            if (period.getDateEnd().before(dateLine)){
                result = true;
              }
          }
    return result;
}

answered Jan 06 '12 at 10:18

Adel Boutros

10,205
7
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You first test if they are equal, if not you do your normal test – Adel Boutros Jan 06 '12 at 10:21
Ok, but if they are equal it is well within the period and therefore should be returned true ? – Mercer Jan 06 '12 at 10:28
@Mercer did you at least pay attention to what I said in the answer? about the documentation part? If they are equal, then it **SHOULD** return false. – Adel Boutros Jan 06 '12 at 10:35

Vaandu · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-06T11:05:55.803

1

    SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
    Date startDate = dateFormat.parse("01/01/2012");
    Date endDate = dateFormat.parse("31/12/2012");
    Date dateLine = dateFormat.parse("01/01/2012");
    boolean result = false;     
    if ((startDate.equals(dateLine) || !endDate.equals(dateLine))
            || (startDate.after(dateLine) && endDate.before(dateLine)))  { // equal to start or end date or with in period
        result = true;
    }   
    System.out.println(result);

edited Jan 06 '12 at 11:05

answered Jan 06 '12 at 10:42

Vaandu

4,857
12
49
75

1

He didn't ask for code, he just asked why didn't it behave the way he wanted. But he chose your answer. :) – Adel Boutros Jan 06 '12 at 11:22
tried what? you lazily helped him and I bet he still didn't get why it didn't work. All I am saying is that the purpose of answering in StackOVerflow is to help the asker to find out what went wrong not code for him and make him do the same mistake in the future. It's the only thing I am saying – Adel Boutros Jan 06 '12 at 11:26

Compare a date in a given period

2 Answers2