Setting DateFormat to current date and time

Question

I am using java.text.DateFormat in order to display the date and time for a user of my application. Below is my code to test the output.

The issue is that the date is being displayed as 1970 (see output below). How can I update this to the current date and time.

Current Output:

 1 Jan 1970 01:00:00

Current code:

DateFormat[] formats = new DateFormat[] {

        DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(),

        };

        for (DateFormat df : formats) {

            Log.d("Dateformat", "Date format: " + (df.format(new Date(0))));
        }

Alternatively if the above is not possible, I am able to get the current time and date using the following method:

Time now = new Time();
        now.setToNow();
        String date= now.toString();

Output:

20140722T133458Europe/London(2,202,3600,1,1406032498)

How can I adjust this in order to make it readable for a user?

Because I would like to save the date as a string but I am getting errors as I cannot create an instance of DateFormat — rossjAva2015, Jul 22 '14 at 12:47

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:45

3

Just write new Date() instead of new Date(0) in your first snippet. When you write new Date(some number) it makes a date which is that many milliseconds after 1/1/1970 00:00:00Z

answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:45

Dawood ibn Kareem

77,785
15
98
110

Thank you, how can I save this date as a String. I cannot do so currently as I cannot create an instance of DateFomat outside of my for loop? – rossjAva2015 Jul 22 '14 at 12:49
What is stopping you from creating `DateFormat` objects wherever you like? – Dawood ibn Kareem Jul 22 '14 at 12:52
I was able to solve it by: SimpleDateFormat df= new SimpleDateFormat(); String myDate= df.format(new Date()); – rossjAva2015 Jul 22 '14 at 13:05

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:49

0

Use this -

String S = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy").format(System.currentTimeMillis());

answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:49

Ratul Ghosh

1,512
9
15

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

tl;dr

Instant.now()
       .atZone( ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" ) )
       .format( DateTimeFormatter.ofLocalizedDateTime( FormatStyle.FULL )
                                 .withLocale( Locale.CANADA_FRENCH ) 
       )

`Instant`

The accepted Answer by Wallace is correct.

But know that you are using troublesome old date-time classes now supplanted by the java.time classes.

The Instant class represents a moment on the timeline in UTC with a resolution of nanoseconds (up to nine (9) digits of a decimal fraction).

Instant instant = Instant.now();  // Current moment in UTC.

To generate a String representing that moment formatting according to the ISO 8601 standard, simply call toString.

`ZonedDateTime`

To view the same moment through the lens of some region’s wall-clock time, apply a ZoneId to get a ZonedDateTime.

ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" ); 
ZonedDateTime zdt = instant.atZone( z );  // Adjust from UTC to a specific time zone. Same moment, different wall-clock time.

`DateTimeFormatter`

For presentation to the user, let java.time automatically localize using the DateTimeFormatter class.

To localize, specify:

FormatStyle to determine how long or abbreviated should the string be.
Locale to determine (a) the human language for translation of name of day, name of month, and such, and (b) the cultural norms deciding issues of abbreviation, capitalization, punctuation, and such.

Example:

Locale l = Locale.CANADA_FRENCH ; 
DateTimeFormatter f = DateTimeFormatter.ofLocalizedDateTime( FormatStyle.FULL ).withLocale( l );
String output = zdt.format( f );

About java.time

The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, .Calendar, & java.text.SimpleDateFormat.

The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to java.time.

To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.

Where to obtain the java.time classes?

Java SE 8 and SE 9 and later
- Built-in.
- Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
- Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
Java SE 6 and SE 7
- Much of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
Android
- The ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above) for Android specifically.
- See How to use….

The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.

Setting DateFormat to current date and time

3 Answers3

tl;dr

Instant

ZonedDateTime

DateTimeFormatter

About java.time

`Instant`

`ZonedDateTime`

`DateTimeFormatter`