Trouble with Conditional inside Matrix Field

Question

I'm trying to setup a conditional to only show the Start Date when the Start Date and End Date match, but I can't get it to work in Matrix and I can't find a similar question anywhere.

Here's what I have so far. I'm using the Time Select fieldtype add-on.

{exp:channel:entries entry_id="8" dynamic="off"}
    {sessions}
        {if "{start_date format='%M %j'}" == "{end_date format='%M %j'}"}
            <li>{start_date format="%M %j"}</li>
        {if:else}
            <li>{start_date format="%M %j"} - {end_date format="%M %j"}</li>
        {/if}
    {/sessions}
{/exp:channel:entries}

Answer 1

EECMS saves dates as UNIX timestamps. You don't need to format the fields just to compare each other.

I don't know if Time Select uses something different, but it worth a try.

{exp:channel:entries entry_id="8" dynamic="off"}
    {sessions}
            <li>
               {start_date format="%M %j"}
               {if start_date != end_date} - {end_date format="%M %j"}{/if}
            </li>
        {/if}
    {/sessions}
{/exp:channel:entries}

Answer 2

Try to remove the the quotation marks:

  {if "start_date format='%M %j'" == "{end_date format='%M %j'}"}

Sometimes it needs to remove them with conditional.