extracting elements from a timestamp in java

Question

If I am given a timestamp value such as: Tue Jun 22 18:17:48 +0000 2010, how can I extract the values "Jun 22" from the timestamp and turn it into a variable?

@EdmundRojas see my post at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8427169/converting-a-date-string-into-milliseconds-in-java/8427764#8427764 . It uses `Calendar` to find the correct date. — Phil, Dec 08 '11 at 18:06
It seems that you have got a `java.util.Date`? For new readers to the question see if you can avoid that. The `Date` class is poorly designed and long outdated. Instead use `LocalDate` or another appropriate class from [java.time, the modern Java date and time API](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/datetime/). — Ole V.V., May 08 '21 at 00:22

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 08 '11 at 18:24

3

you can use pure java code to get this

    String input = "Tue Jun 22 18:17:48 +0000 2010";
    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM d hh:mm:ss Z yyyy");
    Date date = sdf.parse(input);
    sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("MMM d");
    System.out.println(sdf.format(date));

OUTPUT: Jun 22

answered Dec 08 '11 at 18:24

dku.rajkumar

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I like this answer if you need to do additional processing on the date, but if you only need to display it the parsing might cause a performance hit and so you'd want to stick with simple strings. Depends on your use case. – cyber-monk Dec 08 '11 at 18:28
If what you want is the String "Jun 22" I would go with this answer. If you're looking to actually process the data, you should use a Calendar object and then `get()` the `MONTH` and `DATE` fields from it. Converting structured data into a string and then back into structured data should always be avoided. – Avi Cherry Dec 08 '11 at 19:31
@Avi Cherry can the timestamp be passed directly into that get object or must it be formatted first through another means? – Edmund Rojas Dec 08 '11 at 19:41
No need to format anything, you can set a Calendar object's value from a Date object directly. Typically you would call `Calendar myCal = Calendar.getInstance()` then `myCal.setTime(date)`. (I haven't a clue why there isn't a `getCalendar()` method that takes a Date as a param, though. – Avi Cherry Dec 08 '11 at 20:10

Arvind Kumar Avinash · Answer 2 · 2021-05-07T21:15:34.963

java.time

The idiomatic way to do it is by parsing the given date-time string into OffsetDateTime (as it has a timezone offset) and format the resulting OffsetDateTime into the String of the desired pattern.

import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
import java.util.Locale;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String strDateTime = "Tue Jun 22 18:17:48 +0000 2010";
        DateTimeFormatter dtfInput = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("E MMM d H:m:s XX u", Locale.ENGLISH);

        ZonedDateTime odt = ZonedDateTime.parse(strDateTime, dtfInput);

        DateTimeFormatter dtfOutput = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("MMM dd", Locale.ENGLISH);
        String result = dtfOutput.format(odt);
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

Jun 22

ONLINE DEMO

Learn more about the the modern date-time API^* from Trail: Date Time.

^{* For any reason, if you have to stick to Java 6 or Java 7, you can use ThreeTen-Backport which backports most of the java.time functionality to Java 6 & 7. If you are working for an Android project and your Android API level is still not compliant with Java-8, check Java 8+ APIs available through desugaring and How to use ThreeTenABP in Android Project.}

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

1

If you just want it as a String, you can use:

String input = "Tue Jun 22 18:17:48 +0000 2010";
String monthAndDay = input.split("\\s+")[1] + input.split("\\s+")[2];

If it is coming as a date, check out my post from earlier today:

converting a date string into milliseconds in java

edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

Community

1
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answered Dec 08 '11 at 18:05

Phil

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this could be the answer I need! – Edmund Rojas Dec 08 '11 at 18:06

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 08 '11 at 18:14

public class Example {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    String input = "Tue Jun 22 18:17:48 +0000 2010";
    String[] parts = input.trim().split(" ");
    String monthAndDay = new StringBuilder()
      .append(parts[1]).append(" ").append(parts[2]).toString();
    System.out.println(monthAndDay);
  }
}

extracting elements from a timestamp in java

4 Answers4

java.time