Check date with todays date

Question

I have written some code to check two dates, a start date and an end date. If the end date is before the start date, it will give a prompt that says the end date is before start date.

I also want to add a check for if the start date is before today (today as in the day of which the user uses the application) How would I do this? ( Date checker code below, also all this is written for android if that has any bearing)

if (startYear > endYear) {
    fill = fill + 1;
    message = message + "End Date is Before Start Date" + "\n";
} else if (startMonth > endMonth && startYear >= endYear) {
    fill = fill + 1;
    message = message + "End Date is Before Start Date" + "\n";
} else if (startDay > endDay && startMonth >= endMonth && startYear >= endYear) {
    fill = fill + 1;
    message = message + "End Date is Before Start Date" + "\n";
}

Kishath · Answer 1 · 2016-10-29T04:23:43.653

152

Don't complicate it that much. Use this easy way. Import DateUtils java class and call the following methods which returns a boolean.

DateUtils.isSameDay(date1,date2);
DateUtils.isSameDay(calender1,calender2);
DateUtils.isToday(date1);

For more info refer this article DateUtils Java

edited Oct 29 '16 at 04:23

answered Sep 23 '15 at 11:15

Kishath

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8

This is easy, do this. – Tyler Pfaff Dec 14 '15 at 19:38
1

Well, this may be easy, but it is important for people to understand that this is example code, seemingly without tests/coverage. It's presented here as some library you can pull in, but it's not different from other code snippets in other answers. It'd be better to pull in a library, such as Joda or Commons, as others mentioned, since you can rely their community maintenance. Sorry for picking at your answer, others may suffer the same problem. **Please, please, use libraries where you can**. If you have to copy code from the web, make sure to test and comprehend before going into production. – Sander Verhagen Feb 06 '17 at 09:35
4

I am getting error: `The method isToday() is undefined for the type DateUtils`. – learner Jun 02 '18 at 09:36
4

@learner this method is only in Android version of DateUtils. For "desktop" JDK use `DateUtils.isSameDay(someday, new Date());` – Nikolai Shevchenko Jul 11 '18 at 08:37
I believe this is from apache commons lang – Jakob Hartman Aug 27 '19 at 17:26

ewan.chalmers · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-09T12:03:07.927

46

Does this help?

Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();

// set the calendar to start of today
c.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
c.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
c.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
c.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);

// and get that as a Date
Date today = c.getTime();

// or as a timestamp in milliseconds
long todayInMillis = c.getTimeInMillis();

// user-specified date which you are testing
// let's say the components come from a form or something
int year = 2011;
int month = 5;
int dayOfMonth = 20;

// reuse the calendar to set user specified date
c.set(Calendar.YEAR, year);
c.set(Calendar.MONTH, month);
c.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, dayOfMonth);

// and get that as a Date
Date dateSpecified = c.getTime();

// test your condition
if (dateSpecified.before(today)) {
  System.err.println("Date specified [" + dateSpecified + "] is before today [" + today + "]");
} else {
  System.err.println("Date specified [" + dateSpecified + "] is NOT before today [" + today + "]");
}

edited Jul 09 '15 at 12:03

answered Jun 30 '11 at 15:56

ewan.chalmers

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1

Shouldn't millis be also reset to zero at the beginning? – Mister Smith Oct 08 '12 at 07:51
2

Use Joda Time's DateMidnight and you don't need to reset anything. – martin Oct 15 '12 at 10:51
Milliseconds alse need reset c.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0); f you do not, there will be problems if you compare the dates the same day. – DragonT Feb 03 '14 at 19:41
2

Using `Calendar. HOUR` is wrong, since it doesn't reset the AM/PM property, thus if the current time is 13 PM the resulting hour would be 12 PM. Use `Calendar. HOUR_OF_DAY` instead. – mgaido Jul 09 '15 at 10:25
@mark91 Fair comment and answer updated. You can always improve answers by editing yourself. – ewan.chalmers Jul 09 '15 at 12:04
@sudocode you're right, I have to get used to it, thanks for your advice – mgaido Jul 09 '15 at 18:56
1

**Update:** These terrible date-time classes are now supplanted by the modern *java.time* classes defined in JSR 310. – Basil Bourque Jan 16 '21 at 00:00

Roberto Rodriguez · Answer 3 · 2020-05-15T17:26:28.643

Using pure Java:

public static boolean isToday(Date date){
        Calendar today = Calendar.getInstance();
        Calendar specifiedDate  = Calendar.getInstance();
        specifiedDate.setTime(date);

        return today.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH) == specifiedDate.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH)
                &&  today.get(Calendar.MONTH) == specifiedDate.get(Calendar.MONTH)
                &&  today.get(Calendar.YEAR) == specifiedDate.get(Calendar.YEAR);
    }

Basil Bourque · Answer 4 · 2021-01-16T00:17:54.863

tl;dr

LocalDate
.parse( "2021-01-23" )
.isBefore(
    LocalDate.now(
        ZoneId.of( "Africa/Tunis" ) 
    )
)

… or:

try 
{
    org.threeten.extra.LocalDateRange range =         
        LocalDateRange.of( 
            LocalDate.of( "2021-01-23" ) ,
            LocalDate.of( "2021-02-21" )
        )
    ;
    if( range.isAfter( 
        LocalDate.now( ZoneId.of( "Africa/Tunis" ) )
    ) { … }
    else { … handle today being within or after the range. }
} catch ( java.time.DateTimeException e ) {
    // Handle error where end is before start.
}

Details

The other answers ignore the crucial issue of time zone.

The other answers use outmoded classes.

Avoid old date-time classes

The old date-time classes bundled with the earliest versions of Java are poorly designed, confusing, and troublesome. Avoid java.util.Date/.Calendar and related classes.

java.time

In Java 8 and later use the built-in java.time framework. See Tutorial.
In Java 7 or 6, add the backport of java.time to your project.
In Android, use the wrapped version of that backport.

`LocalDate`

For date-only values, without time-of-day and without time zone, use the LocalDate class.

LocalDate start = LocalDate.of( 2016 , 1 , 1 );
LocalDate stop = start.plusWeeks( 1 );

Time Zone

Be aware that while LocalDate does not store a time zone, determining a date such as “today” requires a time zone. For any given moment, the date may vary around the world by time zone. For example, a new day dawns earlier in Paris than in Montréal. A moment after midnight in Paris is still “yesterday” in Montréal.

If all you have is an offset-from-UTC, use ZoneOffset. If you have a full time zone (continent/region), then use ZoneId. If you want UTC, use the handy constant ZoneOffset.UTC.

ZoneId zoneId = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" );
LocalDate today = LocalDate.now( zoneId );

Comparing is easy with isEqual, isBefore, and isAfter methods.

boolean invalidInterval = stop.isBefore( start );

We can check to see if today is contained within this date range. In my logic shown here I use the Half-Open approach where the beginning is inclusive while the ending is exclusive. This approach is common in date-time work. So, for example, a week runs from a Monday going up to but not including the following Monday.

// Is today equal or after start (not before) AND today is before stop.
boolean intervalContainsToday = ( ! today.isBefore( start ) ) && today.isBefore( stop ) ) ;

`LocalDateRange`

If working extensively with such spans of time, consider adding the ThreeTen-Extra library to your project. This library extends the java.time framework, and is the proving ground for possible additions to java.time.

ThreeTen-Extra includes an LocalDateRange class with handy methods such as abuts, contains, encloses, overlaps, and so on.

About java.time

The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.

The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.

To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.

You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.

Where to obtain the java.time classes?

Java SE 8, Java SE 9, Java SE 10, and later
Built-in.
Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….

Too wordy. Answer buried in middle. Prefer answer at top and expound if you want. — Sun, Jan 15 '21 at 23:53

score 9 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 25 '17 at 07:06

9

Android already has a dedicated class for this. Check DateUtils.isToday(long when)

answered Jul 25 '17 at 07:06

makata

2,188
2
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2

Perfect and simple. Thanks! – rjr-apps Sep 18 '17 at 19:08

score 5 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 19 '13 at 14:35

5

Using Joda Time this can be simplified to:

DateMidnight startDate = new DateMidnight(startYear, startMonth, startDay);
if (startDate.isBeforeNow())
{
    // startDate is before now
    // do something...
}

edited Feb 19 '13 at 14:35

Nate

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answered Oct 15 '12 at 10:50

martin

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This is now Deprecated! – User3 Feb 24 '15 at 08:10
Also be very careful in the Month Argument - Joda's is in range 1-12 and Java has range 0-11. Can throw an IllegalArgument exception if the month is January and passed from Java. Although it's not documented, it will throw org.joda.time.IllegalFieldValueException (a subclass of IllegalArgumentException) if the value is invalid. – Skynet Mar 16 '15 at 05:14
Good hint, but IMO Joda's range is the correct one anyway. 0-11 never made sense to me. – martin Mar 17 '15 at 07:31

score 5 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 23 '13 at 06:55

to check if a date is today's date or not only check for dates not time included with that so make time 00:00:00 and use the code below

    Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();

    // set the calendar to start of today
    c.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
    c.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
    c.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
    c.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);

    Date today = c.getTime();

    // or as a timestamp in milliseconds
    long todayInMillis = c.getTimeInMillis();


    int dayOfMonth = 24;
    int month = 4;
    int year =2013;

    // reuse the calendar to set user specified date
    c.set(Calendar.YEAR, year);
    c.set(Calendar.MONTH, month - 1);
    c.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, dayOfMonth);
    c.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
    c.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
    c.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
    c.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);
    // and get that as a Date
    Date dateSpecified = c.getTime();

    // test your condition
    if (dateSpecified.before(today)) {

        Log.v(" date is previou")
    } else if (dateSpecified.equal(today)) {

        Log.v(" date is today ")
    } 
             else if (dateSpecified.after(today)) {

        Log.v(" date is future date ")
    }

Hope it will help....

Vladimir.Shramov · Answer 8 · 2014-04-14T12:43:10.283

2

    boolean isBeforeToday(Date d) {
        Date today = new Date();
        today.setHours(0);
        today.setMinutes(0);
        today.setSeconds(0);
        return d.before(today);
    }

edited Apr 14 '14 at 12:43

answered Apr 14 '14 at 12:37

Vladimir.Shramov

89
3

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 02 '15 at 09:27

another way to do this operation:

public class TimeUtils {

    /**
     * @param timestamp
     * @return
     */
    public static boolean isToday(long timestamp) {
        Calendar now = Calendar.getInstance();
        Calendar timeToCheck = Calendar.getInstance();
        timeToCheck.setTimeInMillis(timestamp);
        return (now.get(Calendar.YEAR) == timeToCheck.get(Calendar.YEAR)
                && now.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR) == timeToCheck.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR));
    }

}

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 30 '11 at 16:08

I assume you are using integers to represent your year, month, and day? If you want to remain consistent, use the Date methods.

Calendar cal = new Calendar();
int currentYear, currentMonth, currentDay; 
currentYear = cal.get(Calendar.YEAR); 
currentMonth = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH); 
currentDay = cal.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK);

     if(startYear < currentYear)
                {
                    message = message + "Start Date is Before Today" + "\n";
                }
            else if(startMonth < currentMonth && startYear <= currentYear)
                    {
                        message = message + "Start Date is Before Today" + "\n";
                    }
            else if(startDay < currentDay && startMonth <= currentMonth && startYear <= currentYear)
                        {
                            message = message + "Start Date is Before Today" + "\n";
                        }

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Mar 21 '16 at 14:16

0

Try this:

public static boolean isToday(Date date)
{
    return org.apache.commons.lang3.time.DateUtils.isSameDay(Calendar.getInstance().getTime(),date);
}

answered Mar 21 '16 at 14:16

Pwnstar

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 05 '19 at 21:01

public static boolean itIsToday(long date){
    boolean result = false;
    try{
        Calendar calendarData = Calendar.getInstance();
        calendarData.setTimeInMillis(date);
        calendarData.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
        calendarData.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
        calendarData.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
        calendarData.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);

        Calendar calendarToday = Calendar.getInstance();
        calendarToday.setTimeInMillis(System.currentTimeMillis());
        calendarToday.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
        calendarToday.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
        calendarToday.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
        calendarToday.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);

        if(calendarToday.getTimeInMillis() == calendarData.getTimeInMillis()) {
            result = true;
        }
    }catch (Exception exception){
        Log.e(TAG, exception);
    }
    return result;
}

These classes became legacy years ago, with the adoption of JSR 310. Suggesting their use in 2019 is poor advice. Use only *java.time* classes instead. — Basil Bourque, Sep 06 '19 at 02:32