[parry2411]

andrewsw, on 27 February 2013 - 03:38 PM, said:

Well this works for me, using getTime()

    public void isTimeValid() {

        Calendar dateTime = Calendar.getInstance();
        Date currDate = dateTime.getTime();
        String dateStr = "27/02/2013";
        DateFormat formatter;
        Date date;

        formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
        try {
            date = (Date) ((DateFormat) formatter).parse(dateStr);
        } catch (ParseException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(Test.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
            return;
        }

        if (date.before(currDate))
        {
            System.out.println("Card Is Valid");
        } else
        {
            System.out.println("Card Not Valid");
        }

    }

but only if I use before() rather than equals(), because getTime() includes a time element.

If you need to use equals() instead then you'll need to remove the time element (or use another approach).

Ahh thanks this helps, how would I get it to check if its equals to todays date?

[parry2411]

Ive tried everything i can think of to get the .equals to work, does anyone have a suggestion?

[andrewsw]

parry2411, on 01 March 2013 - 11:37 AM, said:

Ive tried everything i can think of to get the .equals to work, does anyone have a suggestion?

You can either use date formatters to compare two string versions of the dates; that is, the same date-formats but without the time element. Or you might try the following to strip the time from today's date, before comparing them:

import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;

public class DateUtil {

    public static Date removeTime(Date date) {
        Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
        cal.setTime(date);
        cal.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 0);
        cal.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
        cal.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
        cal.set(Calendar.MILLISECOND, 0);
        return cal.getTime();
    }
}

SO discussion

I think I might prefer the first option, as I feel I would have more control over the process.

parry2411, on 01 March 2013 - 11:37 AM, said:

Ive tried everything i can think of to get the .equals to work, does anyone have a suggestion?

I'm not sure about this statement. I just spend two minutes Googling to find an explanation, and the above code, so I don't understand what you can have been trying.

[g00se]

Quote

With this one it needs the dateValid variable passed in, But on my IDCardTester class there is no variable called dateValid, This is only on the IDCard Class it self

Sorry, i don't understand your point. You have access to 'dateValid' in the code you posted. You can either pass it in (better practice) or not, as you wish

[parry2411]

Thanks for the help guys, Got it in the end