How to get previous month date and year in java

Question

First i set month and year then i want previous month and year not current month. now i getting which month set on calender that month only

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;

public class PrevMonth 
{
    private static String prev_day_str;
    private static String prev_month_str;

    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        SimpleDateFormat prev_day = new SimpleDateFormat("dd");
        Calendar calendar   = Calendar.getInstance();
        calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, 1);
        calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2015);

        calendar .add(Calendar.MONTH, -1);      //subtracting a month
        SimpleDateFormat prev_month = new SimpleDateFormat("MM");
        SimpleDateFormat prev_year = new SimpleDateFormat("YYYY");
        prev_day_str = prev_month.format(new Date(calendar .getTimeInMillis()));
        prev_month_str = prev_year.format(new Date(calendar .getTimeInMillis()));

        System.out.println(prev_day_str+" "+prev_month_str);
    }

}

Result: 01 2015 need for 12 2014

Which Java version are you using? – Anmol Gupta Nov 25 '15 at 06:50 — Anmol Gupta, Nov 25 '15 at 06:50

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 25 '15 at 06:17

3

Your code:

calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, 1);

actually sets the month to February.

For January you need to use 0, ie.

calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, 0);

edited Nov 25 '15 at 06:17

dave

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answered Nov 25 '15 at 06:09

Akshai

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but 1 also getting dynamic then how? – Jayakumar Nov 25 '15 at 06:13
calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, 2); Output: 2015 02 but need 2015 01 – Jayakumar Nov 25 '15 at 06:20

chenchuk · Answer 2 · 2015-11-25T06:17:28.987

0

You start by initialize the calendar to February instead of January :

    public class PrevMonth  {
    private static String prev_day_str;
    private static String prev_month_str;

    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        SimpleDateFormat prev_day = new SimpleDateFormat("dd");
        Calendar calendar   = Calendar.getInstance();
        // 0 for January
        calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, 0);
        calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2015);
        // -1 for substruct
        calendar .add(Calendar.MONTH, -1);      //subtracting a month
        SimpleDateFormat prev_month = new SimpleDateFormat("MM");
        SimpleDateFormat prev_year = new SimpleDateFormat("YYYY");
        prev_day_str = prev_month.format(new Date(calendar .getTimeInMillis()));
        prev_month_str = prev_year.format(new Date(calendar .getTimeInMillis()));

        System.out.println(prev_day_str+" "+prev_month_str);
    }

}

edited Nov 25 '15 at 06:17

answered Nov 25 '15 at 06:09

chenchuk

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calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, 2); Output: 2015 02 but need 2015 01 – Jayakumar Nov 25 '15 at 06:15
remember that 2 means 3/2015 , so u get 2/2015 after substruct 1 month - look at the comment inside the code – chenchuk Nov 25 '15 at 06:20
so java calender start with 0 end with 11 for months – Jayakumar Nov 25 '15 at 06:21
almost true ... actually its circular ... ( 12 means 1/2016, 24 means 1/2017 ... etc. ) – chenchuk Nov 25 '15 at 06:23
but i using month is 12 but getting 2014 12 – Jayakumar Nov 25 '15 at 06:25
make sure you save your code before running it ... i just try now and if i put 12 : the end-result ( after substruction ) is 12/2015. if i put 24 : then the end-result (after substruction ) is 12/2016. consider it that way ( when Calendar.YEAR is 2015, then Calendar.MONTH is the offset from January/2015. means that 0 is January itself, 1 is the next (Feb) 12 is 12 monthes ahead ( January/2016 ) etc. – chenchuk Nov 25 '15 at 06:30
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/96114/discussion-between-jayakumar-and-chenchuk). – Jayakumar Nov 25 '15 at 07:13

How to get previous month date and year in java

2 Answers2