NSDate Comparison using Swift

Question

If you want to support ==, <, >, <=, or >= for NSDates, you just have to declare this somewhere:

public func ==(lhs: NSDate, rhs: NSDate) -> Bool {
    return lhs === rhs || lhs.compare(rhs) == .OrderedSame
}

public func <(lhs: NSDate, rhs: NSDate) -> Bool {
    return lhs.compare(rhs) == .OrderedAscending
}

extension NSDate: Comparable { }

I like using extensions to make code more readable. Here are a few NSDate extensions that can help clean your code up and make it easy to understand. I put this in a sharedCode.swift file:

extension NSDate {

    func isGreaterThanDate(dateToCompare: NSDate) -> Bool {
        //Declare Variables
        var isGreater = false

        //Compare Values
        if self.compare(dateToCompare as Date) == ComparisonResult.orderedDescending {
            isGreater = true
        }

        //Return Result
        return isGreater
    }

    func isLessThanDate(dateToCompare: NSDate) -> Bool {
        //Declare Variables
        var isLess = false

        //Compare Values
        if self.compare(dateToCompare as Date) == ComparisonResult.orderedAscending {
            isLess = true
        }

        //Return Result
        return isLess
    }

    func equalToDate(dateToCompare: NSDate) -> Bool {
        //Declare Variables
        var isEqualTo = false

        //Compare Values
        if self.compare(dateToCompare as Date) == ComparisonResult.orderedSame {
            isEqualTo = true
        }

        //Return Result
        return isEqualTo
    }

    func addDays(daysToAdd: Int) -> NSDate {
        let secondsInDays: TimeInterval = Double(daysToAdd) * 60 * 60 * 24
        let dateWithDaysAdded: NSDate = self.addingTimeInterval(secondsInDays)

        //Return Result
        return dateWithDaysAdded
    }

    func addHours(hoursToAdd: Int) -> NSDate {
        let secondsInHours: TimeInterval = Double(hoursToAdd) * 60 * 60
        let dateWithHoursAdded: NSDate = self.addingTimeInterval(secondsInHours)

        //Return Result
        return dateWithHoursAdded
    }
}

Now if you can do something like this:

//Get Current Date/Time
var currentDateTime = NSDate()

//Get Reminder Date (which is Due date minus 7 days lets say)
var reminderDate = dueDate.addDays(-7)

//Check if reminderDate is Greater than Right now
if(reminderDate.isGreaterThanDate(currentDateTime)) {
    //Do Something...
}

This is how you compare two NSDates in Swift, I just tested it in Xcode's playground:

if date1.compare(date2) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedDescending
{
    NSLog("date1 after date2");
} else if date1.compare(date2) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedAscending
{
    NSLog("date1 before date2");
} else
{
    NSLog("dates are equal");
}

So to check if a date dueDate is within a week from now:

let dueDate=...

let calendar = NSCalendar.currentCalendar()
let comps = NSDateComponents()
comps.day = 7
let date2 = calendar.dateByAddingComponents(comps, toDate: NSDate(), options: NSCalendarOptions.allZeros)

if dueDate.compare(date2!) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedDescending
{
    NSLog("not due within a week");
} else if dueDate.compare(date2!) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedAscending
{
    NSLog("due within a week");
} else
{
    NSLog("due in exactly a week (to the second, this will rarely happen in practice)");
}

I always did it in one line:

let greater = date1.timeIntervalSince1970 < date2.timeIntervalSince1970

Still readable in the if block

In Swift3, the Date struct in the Foundation now implements the Comparable protocol. So, the previous Swift2 NSDate approaches are superceded by Swift3 Date.

/**
 `Date` represents a single point in time.

 A `Date` is independent of a particular calendar or time zone. To represent a `Date` to a user, you must interpret it in the context of a `Calendar`.
*/
public struct Date : ReferenceConvertible, Comparable, Equatable {

    // .... more         

    /**
        Returns the interval between the receiver and another given date.

        - Parameter another: The date with which to compare the receiver.

        - Returns: The interval between the receiver and the `another` parameter. If the receiver is earlier than `anotherDate`, the return value is negative. If `anotherDate` is `nil`, the results are undefined.

        - SeeAlso: `timeIntervalSince1970`
        - SeeAlso: `timeIntervalSinceNow`
        - SeeAlso: `timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate`
        */
    public func timeIntervalSince(_ date: Date) -> TimeInterval

   // .... more 

    /// Returns true if the two `Date` values represent the same point in time.
    public static func ==(lhs: Date, rhs: Date) -> Bool

    /// Returns true if the left hand `Date` is earlier in time than the right hand `Date`.
    public static func <(lhs: Date, rhs: Date) -> Bool

    /// Returns true if the left hand `Date` is later in time than the right hand `Date`.
    public static func >(lhs: Date, rhs: Date) -> Bool

    /// Returns a `Date` with a specified amount of time added to it.
    public static func +(lhs: Date, rhs: TimeInterval) -> Date

    /// Returns a `Date` with a specified amount of time subtracted from it.
    public static func -(lhs: Date, rhs: TimeInterval) -> Date

  // .... more
}

Note ...

In Swift3, Date is struct, it means that it is value type. NSDate is class, it is reference type.

// Swift3
let a = Date()
let b = a //< `b` will copy `a`. 

// So, the addresses between `a` and `b` are different.
// `Date` is some kind different with `NSDate`.

extension NSDate {

    // MARK: - Dates comparison

    func isGreaterThanDate(dateToCompare: NSDate) -> Bool {

        return self.compare(dateToCompare) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedDescending
    }

    func isLessThanDate(dateToCompare: NSDate) -> Bool {

        return self.compare(dateToCompare) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedAscending
    }

    func equalToDate(dateToCompare: NSDate) -> Bool {

        return self.compare(dateToCompare) == NSComparisonResult.OrderedSame
    }
}

If you want to compare dates with granularity (just same day or year etc) on swift 3.

func compareDate(date1:NSDate, date2:NSDate, toUnitGranularity: NSCalendar.Unit) -> Bool {

 let order = NSCalendar.current.compare(date1 as Date, to: date2 as Date, toGranularity: .day)
 switch order {
 case .orderedSame:
   return true
 default:
   return false
 }
}

For other calendar comparisons change .day to;

.year .month .day .hour .minute .second