How do I perform timedelta and date comparison in Ruby?

Question

In Python, if I want to check for a specific date + 24 hours has passed, I will write:

from datetime import datetime, timedelta

some_date = datetime(2013, 1, 10, 11, 0)
day = timedelta(1)

# Checks if some_date + 1 day is before today's date
print some_date + day < datetime.now()

How can I construct a time difference of 1 day and checks if a specific date + 1 day is before today's date in Ruby?

Is [duration](http://rubyforge.org/projects/duration) what you are looking for? — Austin Henley, Jan 10 '13 at 19:23
I'm trying to use libraries from within Ruby 1.9.3 without resorting to outside gems. — Thierry Lam, Jan 10 '13 at 19:24

steenslag · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-10T20:16:59.593

2

require 'time'

xmas = DateTime.new(2013, 12, 25)
puts x = xmas + 1 # 2013-12-26T00:00:00+00:00
d = DateTime.now
puts x > d        # true
puts x - d        # 30167183979194791/86400000000000 (a Rational)
puts d >> 12      # 2014-01-10T21:15:20+01:00

edited Jan 10 '13 at 20:16

answered Jan 10 '13 at 19:22

steenslag

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What if I wanted the time difference to be in seconds or years? How is that done? – Thierry Lam Jan 10 '13 at 19:23
The `1` is actually in seconds, `86400` is the right value for the next day, at least in Ruby 1.9.3. Maybe the 1 is one day in another Ruby version. – Thierry Lam Jan 10 '13 at 19:36
@Thierry Lam Yes, I was mistaken. I meant DateTime, not Time. See edited answer. – steenslag Jan 10 '13 at 20:16

How do I perform timedelta and date comparison in Ruby?

1 Answers1