Codeigniter Start and End Date Validation - php

Question

I get the accurate result if i set the start date and end date when the year is 2017. But when the Start date in 15-October-2016 to 15-September-2017 it is not working and show the error message-
$error = "End date can't be older than begin date ";
Here is my code
$data['beginDate'] = $this->input->post('beginDate');
$data['endDate'] = $this->input->post('endDate');
if($data['endDate'] < $data['beginDate']){
$error = "End date can't be older than begin date ";
$this->session->set_flashdata('error', $error);
redirect('/search');
}
else{
$this->load->model('personhistory');
$data['rets'] = $this->personhistory->searchDetails();
$data['sum'] = $this->personhistory->searchDetailsSum();
$data['title'] = "Search Details";
$this->load->view('search_results', $data);
}
Is there any solution to get rid of this problem? Please Help...

Answer 1

PHP does not know what your strings are, and if the values are coming from posted data, then they are strings:
// These are strings
$s1 = '15-October-2016';
$s2 = '15-September-2016';
Instead, you need to create datetime objects for your comparison
$d1 = new DateTime('15-October-2016');
$d2 = new DateTime('15-September-2016');
if( $d1 < $d2 )
echo 'First date comes before the second date';
if( $d1 > $d2 )
echo 'First date comes after the second date';
if( $d1 == $d2 )
echo 'First date and second date are the same';
Try this code and alter the dates, and you will see I am right.
UPDATE:
Technically you could also use strtotime
<?php
$s1 = strtotime('15-October-2016');
$s2 = strtotime('15-September-2016');
if( $s1 < $s2 )
echo 'First date comes before the second date';
if( $s1 > $s2 )
echo 'First date comes after the second date';
if( $s1 == $s2 )
echo 'First date and second date are the same';