class BigDate implements java.lang.Comparable
   {
   int ordinal;
   ... other fields ...

   /**
     * Sort in ascending order by date.
     * Defines default the sort order for BigDate Objects.
     * Compare this BigDate with another BigDate without JDK 1.5+ generics.
     * Compares ordinal.
     * Informally, returns (this-other) or +ve if this is more positive than other.
     *
     * @param other other BigDate to compare with this one
     *
     * @return +ve if this>other, 0 if this==other, -ve if this<other
     */
   public final int compareTo( Object other )
      {
      return this.ordinal - ( ( BigDate ) other ).ordinal;
      }

   } // end class BigDate