Convert String to NSDate when using DatePicker and TextField - ios

Question

I'm using a textfield that uses a datePicker instead of a keyboard. It displays the format as a string that looks like this 'May 31, 2015 at 12:30'(taken from the println(delivery.text) function.) I want to change the date to NSDate, so I can compare to current date. Any suggestions?
#IBOutlet weak var pickUp: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var delivery: UITextField!
let dateFormat: NSDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
let datePicker: UIDatePicker = UIDatePicker()
let dateFormat2: NSDateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
let datePicker2: UIDatePicker = UIDatePicker()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
dateFormat.dateStyle = NSDateFormatterStyle.LongStyle
dateFormat.timeStyle = NSDateFormatterStyle.LongStyle
datePicker.datePickerMode = UIDatePickerMode.DateAndTime
datePicker.addTarget(self, action: Selector("updateDateField:"), forControlEvents:UIControlEvents.ValueChanged)
pickUp.inputView = datePicker
dateFormat2.dateStyle = NSDateFormatterStyle.LongStyle
dateFormat2.timeStyle = NSDateFormatterStyle.LongStyle
datePicker2.datePickerMode = UIDatePickerMode.DateAndTime
datePicker2.addTarget(self, action: Selector("updateDateField:"), forControlEvents:UIControlEvents.ValueChanged)
delivery.inputView = datePicker2
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
override func viewWillAppear(animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
self.navigationController?.toolbarHidden = false
self.tabBarController?.tabBar.hidden = true
}
func updateDateField(sender: UIDatePicker) {
if sender == datePicker
{
pickUp.text = dateFormat.stringFromDate(sender.date)
}
if sender == datePicker2
{
delivery.text = dateFormat2.stringFromDate(sender.date)
}
}

Answer 1

let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMM dd, yyyy 'at' h:mm:ss a"
if let date = dateFormatter.dateFromString("May 31, 2015 at 12:30:15 PM") {
println(date)
}
if you need some reference for date formatting you can use this one:

Answer 2

You can try using the DateFormatter to format your string into a date and then pulling the NSDate object out like so. In your case, something like this would probably suit your needs.
let dateFormatter = NSDateFormatter()
dateFormatter.dateFormat = "MMMM d, yyyy at H:mm"
let date = dateFormatter.dateFromString(//insert string here)
Refer to the original documentation if you have further questions or this handy guide for formatting guidelines.