Android: getRelativeTime example

Question

Can someone show me an example how to properly use the getRelativeDateTimeString() that is detailed here.

Answer 1

I guess you are talking about getRelativeDateTimeString, which is pointed to by your link.

Example for now, with comments detailing all params:

Date now = new Date();
String str = DateUtils.getRelativeDateTimeString(

        this, // Suppose you are in an activity or other Context subclass

        now.getTime(), // The time to display

        DateUtils.MINUTE_IN_MILLIS, // The resolution. This will display only 
                                        // minutes (no "3 seconds ago") 


        DateUtils.WEEK_IN_MILLIS, // The maximum resolution at which the time will switch 
                         // to default date instead of spans. This will not 
                         // display "3 weeks ago" but a full date instead

        0); // Eventual flags

Other values for MINUTE_IN_MILLIS and YEAR_IN_MILLIS include:

• SECOND_IN_MILLIS
• MINUTE_IN_MILLIS
• HOUR_IN_MILLIS
• DAY_IN_MILLIS
• WEEK_IN_MILLIS
• YEAR_IN_MILLIS
• Any custom value in milliseconds

Answer 2

I think a better question would specify what you want as an output. However, here's an example:

 DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString(yourContext, theEventInMillis, 
                                     DateUtils.MINUTE_IN_MILLIS, 
                                     DateUtils.FORMAT_NO_NOON);

This will format theEventInMillis relative to whatever the system's current time is. It will show changes in minutes (0 minutes ago, 2 minutes ago, 3 hours ago, 1 day ago, etc) until the difference reaches a week, then it will just post the full date. The flags field (0 in this case, last argument) you can use to control how the resulting string is rendered, but you should check the docs to see what fits your needs.