CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpmysql
David
David

Reputation: 224

Comparing user inputted date with MySQL datetime field

I am trying to compare a user inputed date and time with a date and time stored in a MySQL database (datetime field being used). Even when the values appear to be exactly the same PHP still thinks they are different. Could anyone shed any light on what I am doing wrong?

The following gives me the date in the correct format: "2011-04-22 18:36:00" which is being generated from a date picker and 2 seperate text boxes for the hour and minute.

   if(isset($_POST['enableReminder'])) {
        $_POST['reminder_date'] = str_replace("/","",$_POST['reminder_date']);
        $day3 = substr($_POST['reminder_date'],0,2);
        $month3 = substr($_POST['reminder_date'],2,2);
        $year3 = substr($_POST['reminder_date'],-4);
        $taskReminderDate = $year3.'-'.$month3.'-'.$day3;
        $taskReminderHour = $_POST['reminder_hour'];
        $taskReminderMinute = $_POST['reminder_minute'];
        $taskReminderDBpre = $taskReminderDate.' '.$taskReminderHour.':'.$taskReminderMinute.':00';
        $taskReminderDB = date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($taskReminderDBpre) );
        $taskReminderDB2 = "'".$taskReminderDB."'";
    } else {
        $taskReminderDB = 'NULL';
    }

I then try to compare what's in the database, and if the values are different set a variable accordingly:

$taskReminderCompare = strtotime($row['reminder_date']);

    if($taskReminderDB !== $taskReminderCompare) {
        $taskReminderSent = 0;
    } else {
        $taskReminderSent = 1;
    }

But it ALWAYS returns 0 even if I echo $taskReminderDB and $taskReminderCompare and they are exactly the same.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 2097

Answers (1)

Pascal MARTIN
Pascal MARTIN

Reputation: 401122

It seems your $taskReminderDB variable is created like this :

$taskReminderDB = date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($taskReminderDBpre) );

Which means it'll contain a string -- a date formated as YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss


On the other hand, your `$taskReminderCompare` variable is created this way : 
$taskReminderCompare = strtotime($row['reminder_date']);

Which means it'll contain a UNIX Timestamp -- which is an integer.


So, your `$taskReminderDB` and `$taskReminderCompare` variables don't seem to contain the same thing.

To be sure, you could use the var_dump() function to get some informations (value and type) about what's in those :

var_dump($taskReminderDB, $taskReminderCompare);

As a sidenote : even if those two variables contain the same value, as you are using the `!==` operator *(and not the `!=` one)*, you must be sure that the values are of the same type.

i.e. the 123456 integer is not equal to the '123456' string, if comparing them with !==

Upvotes: 3

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