Date Comparison

[kevinfwb]

I have 5 variables $date1, $date2, $date3, $date4 and $date5.

 

I need a way to analyze the 5 dates and find the one that is next from the today's date.

 

I'm sure it's fairly basic, I just don't have the slighest idea of where to begin.

 

Thanks,

 

-Kevin

[kenrbnsn]

Convert the dates to UNIX timestamps, put them into an array, sort them, compare each one in ascending order with today's UNIX timestamp. The first one that is greater than or equal to today's timestamp is the one you want:

<?php
$dates = array(strtotime($date1),strtotime($date2),strtotime($date3),strtotime($date4),strtotime($date5));
sort($dates);
$now = time(); // Today's timestamp
$foundit = false;
for($i=0;$i<count($dates);$i++) {
    if ($dates[$i] >= $now && !$foundit) {
       $target = $dates[$i];
       $foundit = true; }
}
echo 'The next date is ' . date('l , F jS, Y',$target);
?>

 

Note: untested.

 

Ken