Changing DateTime format in Java

Question

I'm using this code to get relative date time in android

    long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
    long difference = now - this.mReferenceTime;
    if ((0 <= difference) && (DateUtils.MINUTE_IN_MILLIS >= difference)) {
        return getResources().getString(R.string.just_now);
    } else {
        return DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString(
                this.mReferenceTime,
                now,
                DateUtils.MINUTE_IN_MILLIS,
                DateUtils.FORMAT_ABBREV_MONTH | DateUtils.FORMAT_ABBREV_RELATIVE).toString();

    }

The output is coming as "28 Mar". How do I make this to "Mar 28"?

This will return strings like "Just now" or "2 minutes ago" or "6 days ago" or something like "28 Mar". I just wanna change the "28 Mar" part to "Mar 28".

Check out : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7082518/android-getrelativetime-example — Haresh Chhelana, Jun 05 '15 at 08:53
so split and swap? i thought there will be some DateUtils.FORMAT_.... — Blaze Mathew, Jun 05 '15 at 09:03
Can you show what's mReferenceTime and now values? Because i'm testing your code, and it gives me __Jun 14__ with my params — Nik Myers, Jun 05 '15 at 09:21
Why do you set the flag `DateUtils.FORMAT_ABBREV_MONTH` if you want a relative time in minutes? This flag seems to be totally inappropriate because it is only for date representations, not for relative times expressing durations. Please clarify. — Meno Hochschild, Jun 05 '15 at 09:39
According to [javadoc](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/format/DateUtils.html): `Can use FORMAT_ABBREV_RELATIVE flag to use abbreviated relative times, like "42 mins ago".` — Meno Hochschild, Jun 05 '15 at 09:41
I still don't understand. How is "28 Mar" (or "Mar 28") a relative time? Relative to what? It rather looks like a date without year, and that format has no reference to now, but the notation of a relative time like "2 mins ago" is just another term for a duration relative to now. You are not supposed to call `getRelativeTimespanString(...)` with a dateformat-flag like `FORMAT_ABBREV_MONTH`. An example for the horrible and unsafe design of helper class `DateUtils`. — Meno Hochschild, Jun 05 '15 at 10:12
It has some limit on how many __days ago__ could be, if difference is larger, that it just showing MONTH DAY, you didn't add your values for __now__ and __ReferenceTime__, i need them to test, just paste long values please — Nik Myers, Jun 05 '15 at 10:15

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 05 '15 at 08:58

0

For this output you can use SimpleDateFormat like this;

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("MMM dd");
String currentDateTime = sdf.format(new Date());

Good luck.

answered Jun 05 '15 at 08:58

Batuhan Coşkun

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I think there is one "M" to much – TheTanic Jun 05 '15 at 09:07
No, if you use two "M", this output becomes "03 28". It is for the output "Mar 28". – Batuhan Coşkun Jun 05 '15 at 09:09
ya but how to incorporate this in DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString. i also have to get strings like "2 minutes ago" only need format change if its a date like "28 Mar" – Blaze Mathew Jun 05 '15 at 09:11
It is about where did you get this date from. You should have a `Date` object in the function `sdf.format()`. Then you can create a `Date` object which is "2 minutes ago". – Batuhan Coşkun Jun 05 '15 at 09:14

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 05 '15 at 08:59

0

change your format like this

SimpleDateFormat srcDf = new SimpleDateFormat(
                            "yyyy.dd.MM HH:mm:ss");

you can change your format more ways - http://developer.android.com/reference/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html

answered Jun 05 '15 at 08:59

Saket Mittal

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Changing DateTime format in Java

2 Answers2