[RESOLVED] Calculate Age-February issue

[niktsol]

Hello everybody. I managed to create a function which calculates the age, based on today's date in form of "X years + Y months+ Z days". For example if someone is born at November 23rd 1978, it returns "42 years old + 3 months + 2 days" The only issue i had is when today's month is February. Although i used "DaysInMonth" method to get the days of the current month of the current year, there was a slightly small difference of 3 days in results based in comparison with Windows calculator results. Then, according to my calculations i realized that what Windows Calculator returns, seems to be that is assumed that February has 31 days. I changed that in my function too, and the results are exactly the same. I checked both Windows Calculator with my function, as well as several sites that calculate date difference in the above return type and the results are completely the same. Do you know why this happens? Is there an international convention or something that defines February with 31 days, for these kind of calculations?

[OptionBase1]

I've never come across anything that assumes February has 31 days.

It is hard to help you fix your function when you don't post any code.

[niktsol]

Function Age(ByVal yr As Int32, ByVal Mn As Int32, ByVal Dy As Int32) As Int32


        Dim cur_Year As Int32 = DateTime.Now.Year
        Dim cur_month As Int32 = DateTime.Now.Month
        Dim cur_day As Int32 = DateTime.Now.Day
        Dim rest_year As Int32
        Dim rest_month As Int32
        Dim rest_day As Int32



        'compute the integer difference between years
        rest_year = cur_Year - yr
        'if current month and current day are equal with given date's month and day return the year no need to calculate anything else
      [INDENT]  If cur_month = Mn And cur_day = Dy Then
                  MessageBox.Show("You are" + rest_year.ToString() + "years old. ", "Age Results", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
                  Return rest_year
        End If

        'if the current day is less than given date's day then we add the days of the current month of the given date day and
        'decrease the value of month by 1

       If cur_day < Dy Then
                   If cur_month = 2 Then
                       cur_day += 31
                   Else
                        cur_day += DateTime.DaysInMonth(cur_Year, cur_month)
                  End If
                  cur_month -= 1
        End If
        'If the  current month Is less than given Date's month then we add the month 12 months and
        'decrease the value of year by 1

        If cur_month < Mn Then
             cur_month += 12
            rest_year -= 1
        End If

        rest_month = cur_month - Mn
        rest_day = cur_day - Dy
        MessageBox.Show("You are" + rest_year.ToString() + " years old, " + rest_month.ToString() + " months " + rest_day.ToString() + " days.", "Age Results", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)



        Return rest_year

    End Function

[niktsol]

This is what i've done so far, and returns exactly the same results as Windows Calculator. The function call is like Age(1978,11,23). So far, returns only the age based in calculations, that's why i have placed a message box to show months and days.

[niktsol]

My apologies, for the indentation. Although i use indentation at code editor and try to fix it by editing the post, it seems that is does not take the indentation changes in the post

[OptionBase1]

If cur_day < Dy Then
    If cur_month = 2 Then
        cur_day += 31
    Else
        cur_day += DateTime.DaysInMonth(cur_Year, cur_month)
    End If
    cur_month -= 1
End If
...
rest_day = cur_day - Dy

The flaw in your logic is that you seem to think that the total number of days in the current month is relevant in your calculations, which isn't the case.

Imagine for a second that February had 5 days and January had 31. Ignoring your February "workaround", if today was February 4th and my birthdate was January 30th, by using your logic, the calculated age is something like -21 days.

In the case that the current day number is less than the given day number, you need to use the total number of days in the *given* month when calculating the day difference, not the values in the *current* month. And when you do that, you don't need any additional logic specific to February.

[jdc2000]

My apologies, for the indentation. Although i use indentation at code editor and try to fix it by editing the post, it seems that is does not take the indentation changes in the post.

Use the Code tags (#) symbol in the tools when posting to enclose the code to preserver the indenting.

[niktsol]

The flaw in your logic is that you seem to think that the total number of days in the current month is relevant in your calculations, which isn't the case.

Imagine for a second that February had 5 days and January had 31. If today was February 4th and my birthdate was January 30th, by using your logic, the calculated age is something like -21 days.

In the case that the current day number is less than the given day number, you need to use the total number of days in the *given* month when calculating the day difference, not the values in the *current* month.

One moment. I am calculating the months based at the compound numbers theory. I hope that it is the correct translation in English. Let me demonstrate you the following example.

Let's "subtract" this dates on paper February 25th 2021 minus November 23rd 1978.


2021 2 25
1978 11 23


So at days:25-23=2
Months 2-11 is less that 0 so i subratct one year (2020) and add 12 months to February so it is now 14. So 14-11=3
Years:2020(beacuse we subtracted on years above)-1978=42

So the result is 42 years , 3 months and 2 days.

This option is based at the fact that all months have 30 or 31 days, or 28 or 29 (February leap year or not)

That's how i calculate with the above function. I've tested over several cases in Windows Calculator.

[OptionBase1]

Fantastic. That example doesn't address my post at all.

Good luck.

[niktsol]

Use the Code tags (#) symbol in the tools when posting to enclose the code to preserver the indenting.

Thanks a lot. I'll use it next time.

[dbasnett]

You should search 'Calculate Age' on this site. Top right, in the banner. We had a rather lengthy discussion about it several years ago. Actually there have been several.

[niktsol]

You should search 'Calculate Age' on this site. Top right, in the banner. We had a rather lengthy discussion about it several years ago. Actually there have been several.

I see. Thanks for your post. I will search it.

[ChrisE]

did you try and use the GregorianCalendar ?

see if you can use this

 Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim dc As New System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar()
        Dim formatInfo = System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Year" & "-" & "Days " & "-" & "Month ")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("-----------------------------------------")

        'write the result to a Textfile
        Using sw As New IO.StreamWriter("E:\TestFolder\TestfileYear_Days.txt")
            For i = 1978 To 2021
                ListBox1.Items.Add("-----------------------------------------")
                ListBox1.Items.Add(CStr(i) & " - " & dc.GetDaysInYear(i))

                For y = 1 To 12
                    Dim monthName = formatInfo.GetMonthName(y)
                    sw.WriteLine(CStr(i) & " " & dc.GetDaysInMonth(i, y) & " " & monthName)
                    'show the result in a Listbox
                    ListBox1.Items.Add(CStr(i) & " - " & dc.GetDaysInMonth(i, y) & " - " & monthName)

                Next
            Next
            sw.Close()
        End Using
    End Sub

[niktsol]

did you try and use the GregorianCalendar ?

see if you can use this

 Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim dc As New System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar()
        Dim formatInfo = System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo
        ListBox1.Items.Add("Year" & "-" & "Days " & "-" & "Month ")
        ListBox1.Items.Add("-----------------------------------------")

        'write the result to a Textfile
        Using sw As New IO.StreamWriter("E:\TestFolder\TestfileYear_Days.txt")
            For i = 1978 To 2021
                ListBox1.Items.Add("-----------------------------------------")
                ListBox1.Items.Add(CStr(i) & " - " & dc.GetDaysInYear(i))

                For y = 1 To 12
                    Dim monthName = formatInfo.GetMonthName(y)
                    sw.WriteLine(CStr(i) & " " & dc.GetDaysInMonth(i, y) & " " & monthName)
                    'show the result in a Listbox
                    ListBox1.Items.Add(CStr(i) & " - " & dc.GetDaysInMonth(i, y) & " - " & monthName)

                Next
            Next
            sw.Close()
        End Using
    End Sub

Hello, since it is the 1st time i get involved with VB.NET, i use the following method to calculate the dates.

For example suppose i have my birth date (23rd November 1978)

2021 2 26 (today's date)

1978 11 23 (my date)


So at days:26-23=3
Months 2-11 is less that 0 so i subtract one year (2020) and add 12 months to February so it is now 14. So 14-11=3
Years:2020(because we subtracted on year above)-1978=42

So the result is 42 years , 3 months and 3 days. (Since i am new to VB.NET, i haven't figured out if the function is able to return an array for example, in which values 42,3,3 are stored and so on. So i return only the number 42, in this case.


That's how i calculate with the above function. I've tested over several cases in Windows Calculator.

I have read some theories over the net about the difficulties in date calculation, and what conventions run. For example , how to calculate the age from Feb. 28, 2015 to Mar. 31, of the X year? Suppose Feb. 28 to Mar. 31 as one month, then the result is one month and 3 days, but if we assume that February 28 is the end of the month and March 31 l, is end of the month as well, then the difference is one month. I used the first option in my function, and i compared the results with many sites regarding date calculation. Eventually i will modify my function to accept 2 dates as parameter and not only, calculate the difference based on today's date.

I will check your own method as well to see what it looks like. Thanks for your suggestion.

[ChrisE]

this is one way to calculate

Option Strict On

Public Class Form1

    Public Structure tDateDiff
        Dim Years As Integer
        Dim Months As Integer
        Dim Days As Integer
    End Structure

    Public Function GetDateDiff(ByVal vDateBegin As Date, _
                      ByVal vDateEnd As Date) As tDateDiff
        Dim vTemp As Date
        vDateBegin = CDate(vDateBegin)
        vDateEnd = CDate(vDateEnd)
        With GetDateDiff
            .Years = 0
            .Months = 0
            .Days = 0
            .Months = CInt(DateDiff("m", vDateBegin, vDateEnd))
            .Years = CInt(Int(.Months / 12))
            .Months = .Months - (.Years * 12)
            vTemp = DateAdd("yyyy", .Years, vDateBegin)
            vTemp = DateAdd("m", .Months, vTemp)
            .Days = CInt(DateDiff("d", vTemp, vDateEnd))
            If .Days < 0 Then
                .Months = .Months - 1
                vTemp = DateAdd("yyyy", .Years, vDateBegin)
                vTemp = DateAdd("m", .Months, vTemp)
                .Days = CInt(DateDiff("d", vTemp, vDateEnd))
            End If
            If .Months < 0 Then
                .Months = 11
                .Years = .Years - 1
            End If


        End With
    End Function


    Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim vDateBegin As Date
        Dim vDateEnd As Date
        Dim tDiff As tDateDiff
        vDateBegin = CDate("23.11.1978 12:59:59") 'enter Birthdate
        vDateEnd = Now
        tDiff = GetDateDiff(vDateBegin, vDateEnd)

        With tDiff
            Label1.Text = CStr(.Years) & " :Years" & " " & CStr(.Months) & " :Months" & " " & CStr(.Days) & " :Days"
        End With

    End Sub
End Class

'Debug.Print is = 42:Years 3:Months 3:Days

[techgnome]

Thing is... your explanation of the math doesn't match the code ... also I don't see any accounting for Feb in the code either... but that's beside the point. If what you've written as the explanation is what you want, and is the expected result... start with that...

pseudo code:

years = curryear - startyear
months = currmonth - startmonth
days = currdays - startdays

// deal with negative days by adding 28/29/30/31 days as needed; then subtract one month
if days < 0 then
  days += daysinMmonth(currentMonth)
  months -= 1

// deal with negative months by adding 12; then subtracting a year
if months <-0
  years -= 1

// return the results

-tg
\
\

edit: all this said, I'm assuming this is just for education and fun... in reality, the start end dates could be Date variable and you can subtract one from the other which would give you a DateTimeSpan (I think that's right, might be just called a TimeSpan, maybe DateSpan? it's been a while) object from which you can get .Year, .Months, .Days, .TotalMonths, .TotalDays, as well as other properties...

-tg

[niktsol]

Thing is... your explanation of the math doesn't match the code ... also I don't see any accounting for Feb in the code either... but that's beside the point. If what you've written as the explanation is what you want, and is the expected result... start with that...

pseudo code:

years = curryear - startyear
months = currmonth - startmonth
days = currdays - startdays

// deal with negative days by adding 28/29/30/31 days as needed; then subtract one month
if days < 0 then
  days += daysinMmonth(currentMonth)
  months -= 1

// deal with negative months by adding 12; then subtracting a year
if months <-0
  years -= 1

// return the results

-tg
\
\

edit: all this said, I'm assuming this is just for education and fun... in reality, the start end dates could be Date variable and you can subtract one from the other which would give you a DateTimeSpan (I think that's right, might be just called a TimeSpan, maybe DateSpan? it's been a while) object from which you can get .Year, .Months, .Days, .TotalMonths, .TotalDays, as well as other properties...

-tg

Hello. Thanks for your answer. Since i am learning VB.NET, coming from much more older programming languages where there was not built-in "date" data type and methods or something thus i pass the parameters of year month, day as integer. As far it concerns February, I've read some articles about how to calculate dates, as I've post in previous post in this thread. This function in this version should be called "Age(1978,11,23) based on the example at previous posts. I am not aware of if i can return an Array or Dictionary or any other Data type with 3 values in it just like 42,3,3 in this example (with today's date is February 26th 2021).

Since i now get involved in VB.NET i prefer to start create my own "tools" for future use, and improve them as long as my knowledge is getting improved. There are some pros and cons for my implementation, apart from the slight code improvements needed, because i literally created this "on the fly". Yes it works, after i tested it with several web platforms comparing the results and yes, this code could be more "VB.NETistic". I have already consider your suggestions for the above methods; i have already used some of them i.e. "DaysInMonth". I've already thought a revised version. Thanks again for your suggestion.