Checking if one NSDate is greater than another

Question

if (datStartDate > datEndDate) {

This doesn't seem to work. I know there's a isEqual, etc., but how do I perform "is greater than"?

There are both NSDate.

Possible duplicate of [How to compare two NSDates: Which is more recent?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5965044/how-to-compare-two-nsdates-which-is-more-recent) — Pang, Jun 19 '18 at 01:44

score 147 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 01 '10 at 12:45

147

The easiest method i'm aware is:

if( [firstDate timeIntervalSinceDate:secondDate] > 0 ) {

The other answers cover compare:, wanted to add some flavour ;).

answered Oct 01 '10 at 12:45

dannywartnaby

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No reason to use this idea because we have -compare: method. But idea is working one for sure. – WINSergey Oct 17 '16 at 17:32
A one-liner is big enough reason to use it. +1. – GeneCode Jun 19 '17 at 05:30
this does have a an appeal (and flavour) But I think it may return wrong answer for very close NSDates, because of float-calculation and comparison accuracy issues. Better use the 'compare:' or add a more readable semantic wrapper -(BOOL) isEarlierThan: and -(BOOL) isLaterThan: to the existing -(BOOL)isEqual: – Motti Shneor Aug 04 '20 at 07:47

score 32 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 01 '10 at 12:44

To compare dates use -compare: method:

Return Value If:

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.

Kevin Mitts · Answer 3 · 2010-10-01T14:51:30.043

20

What about...

if ([datStartDate earlierDate: datEndDate] == datStartDate) {
    // datStartDate is earlier
} else {
    // datEndDate is earlier
}

edited Oct 01 '10 at 14:51

answered Oct 01 '10 at 13:24

Kevin Mitts

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Thanks very much :) – Supertecnoboff Jun 29 '16 at 10:04

score 13 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 01 '10 at 12:44

13

As you have NSDates:

NSDate *datStartDate = [NSDate dateWithString:@"2010-10-01 03:00:00 +0900"];
NSDate *datEndDate   = [NSDate dateWithString:@"2010-10-01 04:00:00 +0900"];

if ( ([datStartDate compare:datEndDate]) == NSOrderedDescending ) {
    ...
}

answered Oct 01 '10 at 12:44

martin clayton

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Constructing strings with 'natural language' is now fully deprecated and this will not compile. – lewis Feb 01 '17 at 14:36

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 28 '16 at 21:39

2

Swift 2 version of accepted answer:

if firstDate.timeIntervalSinceDate(secondDate) > 0 {
    // firstDate is greater (further in the future) than secondDate
}

answered Jan 28 '16 at 21:39

brandonscript

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered May 31 '18 at 09:33

I've been working with NSDate and NSComparison result stuff for years and I can never for the life of me remember how this works. So I wrote a convenience extension on Date for it:

func isBefore(_ otherDate: Date) -> Bool {
    let result = self.compare(otherDate)
    switch result {
    case .orderedAscending:
        return true
    case .orderedSame,
         .orderedDescending:
        return false
    }
}

If you want to have an isAfter extension it just has to return true for orderedDescending.

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Jun 18 '18 at 12:17

1

if ([startDate compare:endDate] == NSOrderedAscending) {
        NSLog(@"startDate is EARLIER than endDate");
}

edited Jun 18 '18 at 12:17

Harshal Valanda

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answered Jun 18 '18 at 09:59

joan

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Checking if one NSDate is greater than another

7 Answers7