Get 1 month ago from current datetime

Question

I'm trying to get 1 month ago date and time but what i get from this was 2013 11 02 which the correct one should be 2013 12 02 pls help.

My Code as below :-

Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
    calendar.add(Calendar.MONTH, -1);

    int thisYear = calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR);
    int thisMonth = calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH);
    int thisDay = calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH);

It may help to read: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/344380/why-is-january-month-0-in-java-calendar — Morrison Chang, Jan 02 '14 at 06:56
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/Calendar.html#MONTH they are zero indexed so your code is correct, you just have to understand how to read the value — Greg Giacovelli, Jan 02 '14 at 06:56
Constants values start from 0 i.e. o for January and 11 for december — Abhishek Agarwal, Jan 02 '14 at 06:56

Greg Giacovelli · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-02T07:10:50.113

14

Your code is correct, I think the months are zero indexed ;)

Try this,

Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.add(Calendar.MONTH, -1);
Date date = calendar.getTime();
SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy MM dd");
String dateOutput = format.format(date);

This should interpret the date values for you in logical units rather than the internal representation

Checkout out documentation for SimpleDateFormat for a more custom approach, I just made some assumptions based on your question text.

edited Jan 02 '14 at 07:10

answered Jan 02 '14 at 06:55

Greg Giacovelli

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Oh like you want it to print the word january? you could use a lookup table that maps Calendar.JANUARY -> "January" or just use a SimpleDateFormatter and pass it the date that the Calendar object represents – Greg Giacovelli Jan 02 '14 at 07:03
It should, try it, `calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, Calendar.MARCH);` `calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 31);` `calendar.add(Calendar.MONTH, -1);` – Greg Giacovelli Jan 02 '14 at 07:16

dinesh sharma · Answer 2 · 2014-01-02T07:18:16.813

4

You can try this

    Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
    if(calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH) == Calendar.JANUARY){
        calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR)-1);
        calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, calendar.DECEMBER);
    }else{
        calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH)-1);
    }

    int thisYear = calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR);
    int thisMonth = calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH);
    int thisDay = calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH);

edited Jan 02 '14 at 07:18

answered Jan 02 '14 at 06:54

dinesh sharma

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You can't do `calendar.YEAR-1`. This makes no sense. YEAR is a static member of the Calendar class. YEAR is a constant. To subtract 1 from it makes no sense since it is just a key to look up a value from – Greg Giacovelli Jan 02 '14 at 07:07
this code return result 2014-11-2 00:00:00. I should get 2013-12-02 00:00:00 – micky Jan 02 '14 at 07:09
I have edited this answer after running it successfully try it now – dinesh sharma Jan 02 '14 at 07:18

Get 1 month ago from current datetime

2 Answers2