check if new DateTime is today or future in php - php

Question

I need to check if date1 is today or future date and if so its ok
if not (is in the past) its not ok. i see a lot of examples but none of theme is check if date1 is equal today.
my code is:
$today = new DateTime(); // Today
$today->format('Y-m-d'); //2016-10-27
$contractDateBegin = new DateTime($date1); //2016-10-27
if($today->getTimestamp() <= $contractDateBegin->getTimestamp()){
echo 'OK';
}
else{
echo "NOT OK";
}
its work fine if date1 is a future date but if its the same date its echo "NOT OK"
any help?

Answer 1

$today can be defined as just new DateTime("today"), which means today at midnight -- the time part will be automatically zeroed out
$today = new DateTime("today");
$date1 = '2016-10-27';
$contractDateBegin = new DateTime($date1); //2016-10-27
if($today <= $contractDateBegin){
echo 'OK';
}
else{
echo "NOT OK";
}
DEMO

Answer 2

The "Y-m-d format" is perfect also for direct lexicographical comparison of strings and there is no need to convert it to a DateTime object. With PHP7 you could use the famous speceship operator ;)
php -a
Interactive mode enabled
php > $today = '2016-10-27';
php > $tomorrow = '2016-10-28';
php > $today2 = '2016-10-27';
php > echo $today <=> $tomorrow;
-1
php > echo $today <=> $today2;
0
php > echo $tomorrow <=> $today2;
1

Answer 3

getTimestamp() included "H:i:s". So it'll fail when compare the seconds.
In your case, do you want to compare just date('Y-m-d')?
If you just want to use DateTime and compare Timestamp. Please try
$today = new DateTime(); // Today
$contractDateBegin = new DateTime($date1); //2016-10-27
// Set time to 0
$today->setTime(0, 0, 0);
$contractDateBegin->setTime(0, 0, 0);
if($today->getTimestamp() <= $contractDateBegin->getTimestamp()){
echo 'OK';
}
else{
echo "NOT OK";
}

Answer 4

I guess you only want to compare the dates (ignoring the time). This should work:
$today = new DateTime();
$today = $today->format('Y-m-d');
$contractDateBegin = new DateTime($date1);
$contractDateBegin = $contractDateBegin->format('Y-m-d');
if ($today <= $contractDateBegin){
echo 'OK';
} else {
echo "NOT OK";
}