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Date Comparison Function

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John Martin

Date Comparison Function

Hi All,

I searched through the code base looking for a simple date comparison
method to compare two dates excluding time. I was unable to find one.
Is there one that I can use?

I want the ability to compare data A to B and determine if it is <, =,
or >. I've writen one, compareDates(Date A, Date B) compares the day,
month and year of two dates, returing 0, -1 or +1 indicating whether
the first date is equal, before or after the second.

If there isn't one, I propose adding my method to the
framework\base\src\base\org\ofbiz\base\util\UtilDateTime.java class.

There is a method in commons validation jar but this jar is not
included in the distro.
http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/validator/apidocs/org/apache/commons/validator/routines/DateValidator.html

Should we include my method or the commons validator jar?

Thanks,

John

Jacopo Cappellato

Re: Date Comparison Function

Hi John,

I don't remember if we have something similar in OFBiz, but if not I
think it is a good idea to include it; maybe I'd prefer to include the
commons validator jar (and also the commons math jar
http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/math/ would be interesting for reports
etc... but this is anoether subject).

In the meantime, thanks for your ideas and research,

Jacopo

John Martin wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I searched through the code base looking for a simple date comparison
> method to compare two dates excluding time. I was unable to find one.
> Is there one that I can use?
>
> I want the ability to compare data A to B and determine if it is <, =,
> or >. I've writen one, compareDates(Date A, Date B) compares the day,
> month and year of two dates, returing 0, -1 or +1 indicating whether
> the first date is equal, before or after the second.
>
> If there isn't one, I propose adding my method to the
> framework\base\src\base\org\ofbiz\base\util\UtilDateTime.java class.
>
> There is a method in commons validation jar but this jar is not
> included in the distro.
> http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/validator/apidocs/org/apache/commons/validator/routines/DateValidator.html
>
>
> Should we include my method or the commons validator jar?
>
> Thanks,
>
> John

cjhowe

Re: Date Comparison Function

You should be able to subtract one datetime from
another datetime. If a-b>0 then a is after than b, if
a-b<0, then b is after a. if a=b they are the same.
i know there are at least a couple of examples of this
in bsh files throughout the code base

--- Jacopo Cappellato <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi John,
>
> I don't remember if we have something similar in
> OFBiz, but if not I
> think it is a good idea to include it; maybe I'd
> prefer to include the
> commons validator jar (and also the commons math jar
>
> http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/math/ would be
> interesting for reports
> etc... but this is anoether subject).
>
> In the meantime, thanks for your ideas and research,
>
> Jacopo
>
> John Martin wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I searched through the code base looking for a
> simple date comparison
> > method to compare two dates excluding time. I was
> unable to find one.
> > Is there one that I can use?
> >
> > I want the ability to compare data A to B and
> determine if it is <, =,
> > or >. I've writen one, compareDates(Date A, Date
> B) compares the day,
> > month and year of two dates, returing 0, -1 or +1
> indicating whether
> > the first date is equal, before or after the
> second.
> >
> > If there isn't one, I propose adding my method to
> the
> >
>

framework\base\src\base\org\ofbiz\base\util\UtilDateTime.java
> class.
> >
> > There is a method in commons validation jar but
> this jar is not
> > included in the distro.
> >
>
http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/validator/apidocs/org/apache/commons/validator/routines/DateValidator.html

>
> >
> >
> > Should we include my method or the commons
> validator jar?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > John
>
>

John Martin

Re: Date Comparison Function

The problem with that is that comparing datetime means that 10/06/2006
12:00:01 != 10/06/2006 18:30:00. I just want to see if a Date is the
same, before, or after another. The time messes up the tests.

I think using the commons/validator is the right thing to do since the
less code we write, the less we have to maintain. On the otherhand,
my method is short and sweet.

/**
* compares two dates (excluding time) to determine if date A is
equal, before or after date B
* @param dateA a java.util.Date object
* @param dateB a java.util.Date object
* @return int a value of zero (0) indicates the dates are
equal; a value less than zero (< 0) date A is prior to B; and a
* value greater than zero (> 0) indicates date A
occurs after B
*/
public static int compareDates(java.util.Date dateA, java.util.Date dateB) {
String strDateA = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateA, "yyyyMMdd");
String strDateB = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateB, "yyyyMMdd");
return strDateA.compareTo(strDateB);
}

Jacques Le Roux

Re: Date Comparison Function

Administrator

Hi John, Jacopo and Chris,

Perhaps before embedding the whole Apache's validator we may simply add the below method as suggested John ?

If later we need more validations or other stuffes we migh include Apache's tools (validator, math, etc.)

Jacques

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Martin" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 7:14 PM
Subject: Re: Date Comparison Function

> The problem with that is that comparing datetime means that 10/06/2006
> 12:00:01 != 10/06/2006 18:30:00. I just want to see if a Date is the
> same, before, or after another. The time messes up the tests.
>
> I think using the commons/validator is the right thing to do since the
> less code we write, the less we have to maintain. On the otherhand,
> my method is short and sweet.
>
> /**
> * compares two dates (excluding time) to determine if date A is
> equal, before or after date B
> * @param dateA a java.util.Date object
> * @param dateB a java.util.Date object
> * @return int a value of zero (0) indicates the dates are
> equal; a value less than zero (< 0) date A is prior to B; and a
> * value greater than zero (> 0) indicates date A
> occurs after B
> */
> public static int compareDates(java.util.Date dateA, java.util.Date dateB) {
> String strDateA = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateA, "yyyyMMdd");
> String strDateB = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateB, "yyyyMMdd");
> return strDateA.compareTo(strDateB);
> }

John Martin

Re: Date Comparison Function

Ok, I'll write up a ticket in JIRA and submit a patch.

David E Jones-2

Re: Date Comparison Function

In reply to this post by Jacques Le Roux

My preference from a code management perspective would be to not have
any code in OFBiz that we could include a library for, especially the
jakarta commons libraries as sooner or later we'll probably have all
of them in OFBiz anyway... ;)

-David

On Oct 6, 2006, at 7:24 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> Hi John, Jacopo and Chris,
>
> Perhaps before embedding the whole Apache's validator we may simply
> add the below method as suggested John ?
>
> If later we need more validations or other stuffes we migh include
> Apache's tools (validator, math, etc.)
>
> Jacques
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Martin" <[hidden email]>
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 7:14 PM
> Subject: Re: Date Comparison Function
>
>
>> The problem with that is that comparing datetime means that
>> 10/06/2006
>> 12:00:01 != 10/06/2006 18:30:00. I just want to see if a Date is the
>> same, before, or after another. The time messes up the tests.
>>
>> I think using the commons/validator is the right thing to do since
>> the
>> less code we write, the less we have to maintain. On the otherhand,
>> my method is short and sweet.
>>
>> /**
>> * compares two dates (excluding time) to determine if date A is
>> equal, before or after date B
>> * @param dateA a java.util.Date object
>> * @param dateB a java.util.Date object
>> * @return int a value of zero (0) indicates the dates are
>> equal; a value less than zero (< 0) date A is prior to B; and a
>> * value greater than zero (> 0) indicates
>> date A
>> occurs after B
>> */
>> public static int compareDates(java.util.Date dateA,
>> java.util.Date dateB) {
>> String strDateA = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateA,
>> "yyyyMMdd");
>> String strDateB = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateB,
>> "yyyyMMdd");
>> return strDateA.compareTo(strDateB);
>> }

Jacques Le Roux

Re: Date Comparison Function

Administrator

John,

As you may have seen David and Jacopo prefer to use already jakarta commons libraries.
That makes sense of course : less code to maintain, OFBiz is already pretty huge :o)

How might we organize that task ?

Jacques

>
> My preference from a code management perspective would be to not have
> any code in OFBiz that we could include a library for, especially the
> jakarta commons libraries as sooner or later we'll probably have all
> of them in OFBiz anyway... ;)
>
> -David
>
>
> On Oct 6, 2006, at 7:24 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:
>
> > Hi John, Jacopo and Chris,
> >
> > Perhaps before embedding the whole Apache's validator we may simply
> > add the below method as suggested John ?
> >
> > If later we need more validations or other stuffes we migh include
> > Apache's tools (validator, math, etc.)
> >
> > Jacques
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "John Martin" <[hidden email]>
> > To: <[hidden email]>
> > Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 7:14 PM
> > Subject: Re: Date Comparison Function
> >
> >
> >> The problem with that is that comparing datetime means that
> >> 10/06/2006
> >> 12:00:01 != 10/06/2006 18:30:00. I just want to see if a Date is the
> >> same, before, or after another. The time messes up the tests.
> >>
> >> I think using the commons/validator is the right thing to do since
> >> the
> >> less code we write, the less we have to maintain. On the otherhand,
> >> my method is short and sweet.
> >>
> >> /**
> >> * compares two dates (excluding time) to determine if date A is
> >> equal, before or after date B
> >> * @param dateA a java.util.Date object
> >> * @param dateB a java.util.Date object
> >> * @return int a value of zero (0) indicates the dates are
> >> equal; a value less than zero (< 0) date A is prior to B; and a
> >> * value greater than zero (> 0) indicates
> >> date A
> >> occurs after B
> >> */
> >> public static int compareDates(java.util.Date dateA,
> >> java.util.Date dateB) {
> >> String strDateA = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateA,
> >> "yyyyMMdd");
> >> String strDateB = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateB,
> >> "yyyyMMdd");
> >> return strDateA.compareTo(strDateB);
> >> }
>

John Martin

Re: Date Comparison Function

Well, I tend to agree and think that the commons jar make the most
sense. I'll write up the JIRA and add a link to the libs. I will
need this library in place for some code that I'm implementing for the
DHL enhancements.

Thanks for the feedback!

John

John Martin-13

Re: Date Comparison Function

In reply to this post by Jacques Le Roux

Ok, I'll write up a ticket in JIRA and submit a patch.

John Martin-13

Re: Date Comparison Function

In reply to this post by David E Jones-2

John,

As you may have seen David and Jacopo prefer to use already jakarta commons
libraries.
That makes sense of course : less code to maintain, OFBiz is already pretty
huge :o)

How might we organize that task ?

Jacques

John Martin-13

Re: Date Comparison Function

In reply to this post by Jacques Le Roux

John Martin-13

Re: Date Comparison Function

In reply to this post by Jacques Le Roux

Adrian Crum

Re: Date Comparison Function

In reply to this post by John Martin

Why not compare the milliseconds value?

John Martin wrote:

> The problem with that is that comparing datetime means that 10/06/2006
> 12:00:01 != 10/06/2006 18:30:00. I just want to see if a Date is the
> same, before, or after another. The time messes up the tests.
>
> I think using the commons/validator is the right thing to do since the
> less code we write, the less we have to maintain. On the otherhand,
> my method is short and sweet.
>
> /**
> * compares two dates (excluding time) to determine if date A is
> equal, before or after date B
> * @param dateA a java.util.Date object
> * @param dateB a java.util.Date object
> * @return int a value of zero (0) indicates the dates are
> equal; a value less than zero (< 0) date A is prior to B; and a
> * value greater than zero (> 0) indicates date A
> occurs after B
> */
> public static int compareDates(java.util.Date dateA, java.util.Date
> dateB) {
> String strDateA = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateA, "yyyyMMdd");
> String strDateB = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateB, "yyyyMMdd");
> return strDateA.compareTo(strDateB);
> }
>

Adrian Crum

Re: Date Comparison Function

Thinking about this more, you should use the UtilDateTime.toCalendar(...) method to construct two
Calendar objects, then use them for the comparison.

Helpful link:

http://www.icu-project.org/docs/papers/international_calendars_in_java.html

Adrian Crum wrote:

> Why not compare the milliseconds value?
>
>
> John Martin wrote:
>
>> The problem with that is that comparing datetime means that 10/06/2006
>> 12:00:01 != 10/06/2006 18:30:00. I just want to see if a Date is the
>> same, before, or after another. The time messes up the tests.
>>
>> I think using the commons/validator is the right thing to do since the
>> less code we write, the less we have to maintain. On the otherhand,
>> my method is short and sweet.
>>
>> /**
>> * compares two dates (excluding time) to determine if date A is
>> equal, before or after date B
>> * @param dateA a java.util.Date object
>> * @param dateB a java.util.Date object
>> * @return int a value of zero (0) indicates the dates are
>> equal; a value less than zero (< 0) date A is prior to B; and a
>> * value greater than zero (> 0) indicates date A
>> occurs after B
>> */
>> public static int compareDates(java.util.Date dateA, java.util.Date
>> dateB) {
>> String strDateA = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateA, "yyyyMMdd");
>> String strDateB = UtilDateTime.toDateString(dateB, "yyyyMMdd");
>> return strDateA.compareTo(strDateB);
>> }
>>
>
>

Jacques Le Roux

Re: Date Comparison Function

Administrator

Hi all,

Something weird happenned here (in my mail box). Have you also received this complete resurrected thread dating from last year ?
http://www.nabble.com/Date-Comparison-Function-tf2395467.html#a6687467

Thanks

Jacques