
Here is the syntax of the snippet in Java for comparison to the current datetime:
java.util.Date utilDate = new java.util.Date();
java.sql.Timestamp sqlDate = new java.sql.Timestamp(utilDate.getTime());
try {
stmt = conn.createStatement();
String myQueryString = "SELECT * FROM sale_table where saleStart < {ts '" + sqlDate.toString() + "' }";