Date Comparision using Javascript

Question

hi :
I need a help on comparing dates which is in dd-mon-yyyy format can any one help me here i have a code which is comparing the days but not the months i need some help please suggets me how to do this
<script type="text/javascript">
function checkdates_baseline(pStartDateItem,pEndDateItem)
var sdate = document.getElementById(pStartDateItem).value;
var edate = document.getElementById(pEndDateItem).value;
if(sdate != "" && edate != "")
var amonths = new Array('JAN','FEB','MAR','APR','MAY','JUN','JUL','AUG','SEP','OCT','NOV','DEC');
var start_date = new Date();
var end_date = new Date();
var start_month = sdate.substring(3,6);
var end_month = edate.substring(3,6);
var nstart_month = 0;
var nend_month = 0;
for(i=0;i<12;i++)
if(amonths == start_month)
nstart_month = i;
if(amonths == end_month)
nstart_month = i;
start_date.setFullYear(sdate.substring(7,11),nstart_month,sdate.substring(0,2));
end_date.setFullYear(edate.substring(7,11),nend_month,edate.substring(0,2));
var result = (end_date - start_date);
if( result <= 0)
alert('The End date must be after the Start Date Baseline');
document.getElementById(pEndDateItem).value = "";
</script>
this code is not comparing the months need help really
thanks
sudhir

Answer 1

Hi
I can't see why you couldn't use a PL/SQL validation - you get the dates from items on the page...?
Anyway, the reason why you can't make my corrections work may be that they've ben "interpreted" by the markup-parser in the forum... I wasn't aware. I'll see if i can work around it. What I meant was that you needed:
if (amonths[ i ] == ...)
etc.
And BTW, you've got the month-numbers wrong. January is 0 and December is 11 in JavaScript.
Also it'd be more elegant to use an associative list. I'd write something like
<script type="text/javascript">
function checkdates_baseline(pStartDateItem,pEndDateItem)
  var sdate = document.getElementById(pStartDateItem).value;
  var edate = document.getElementById(pEndDateItem).value;
  if(sdate != "" && edate != "")
    var m2int = {
      JAN: 0,
      FEB: 1,
      MAR: 2,
      APR: 3,
      MAY: 4,
      JUN: 5,
      JUL: 6,
      AUG: 7,
      SEP: 8,
      OCT: 9,
      NOV: 10,
      DEC: 11 };
    var start_year = sdate.substring(7,11);
    var start_month = sdate.substring(3,6);
    var start_day = sdate.substring(0,2);
    var start_date = new Date(start_year, m2int[start_month], start_day);
    var end_year = edate.substring(7,11);
    var end_month = edate.substring(3,6);
    var end_day = edate.substring(0,2);
    var end_date = new Date(end_year, m2int[end_month], end_day);
    if( end_date <= start_date )
      alert('The End date must be after the Start Date Baseline');
      document.getElementById(pEndDateItem).value = "";
</script>But still - try to use PL/SQL - it's probably a better way...
HTH
Jakob