Re: help on getting date

1. Is there a way to get the system date using perl in the following format mm-dd-yyyy?

Yes, using POSIX::strftime:

    print POSIX::strftime("%m-%d-%Y",localtime()),"\n";
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2. is there a way to compare the dates to see which is greater or lesser then a given date which is in mm-dd-yyyy format?

Yes, using POSIX::mktime() and optionally POSIX::difftime():

  my $start_date_string = '05-03-2003';
  my @date_parts = split('-',$start_date_string);

  # build time
  my $then_time = POSIX::mktime(
        0,0,0,
        $date_parts[1],
        ($date_parts[0] -1),
        ($date_parts[2] - 1900)
    );

  ### or could be mktime() from another split string here
  my $now_time = time();

  #could also use POSIX::difftime:
  #"the time difference (in seconds) between two times
  #(as returned by 'time()')"
  if( $then_time < $now_time ){
    print POSIX::ctime($then_time)
            . " was before "
            . POSIX::ctime($now_time) . "\n";
  }else{
    print POSIX::ctime($then_time)
            . " was after "
            . POSIX::ctime($now_time) . "\n";
  }
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All that fun and POSIX comes with core perl.

Update:Oops, thanks rob_au for catching my typo.

cp
----
"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic."

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Re: Re: help on getting date
by rob_au (Abbot) on Jun 03, 2003 at 06:12 UTC

POSIX::mktime

$then_time

my $then_time = POSIX::mktime
(
    0,                      #   Seconds
    0,                      #   Minutes
    0,                      #   Hours
    $date_parts[1],         #   Day (of month)
    $date_parts[0] - 1,     #   Month
    $date_parts[2] - 1900   #   Year
);
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This behaviour is documented on the POSIX module man page.

perl -le 'print+unpack"N",pack"B32","00000000000000000000001001100100"'

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