Get preferred date format string of Android system

Question

Does anybody know how to get the format string used by the system when formatting a date using

DateFormat.getLongDateFormat(Context context).format(Date date)

Pls choose the other answer as the accepted one. The current one is a hack (as noted also by the person who answered). — milosmns, Mar 12 '19 at 14:27

score 75 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 24 '13 at 13:21

75

To get the date format pattern you can do:

Format dateFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(getApplicationContext());
String pattern = ((SimpleDateFormat) dateFormat).toLocalizedPattern();

answered Sep 24 '13 at 13:21

Mark Melling

1,562
14
15

Worked for me too, but is it possible to get the date and time format from it? – CaptainNemo Dec 28 '17 at 20:04
Getting the time instance as well. How can we ignore that? currently: May 18, 2020 12:00:00 need: May 18, 2020 – Pratik Bhandari May 18 '20 at 08:25

toantran · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-23T00:05:36.153

7

I wrote a method to detect this format string. ( work for my case).

public static String getDateFormat(Context context){
        // 25/12/2013
        Calendar testDate = Calendar.getInstance();
        testDate.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2013);
        testDate.set(Calendar.MONTH, Calendar.DECEMBER);
        testDate.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 25);

        Format format = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(context);
        String testDateFormat = format.format(testDate.getTime());
        String[] parts = testDateFormat.split("/");
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        for(String s : parts){
            if(s.equals("25")){
                sb.append("dd/");
            }
            if(s.equals("12")){
                sb.append("MM/");
            }
            if(s.equals("2013")){
                sb.append("yyyy/");
            }
        }
        return sb.toString().substring(0, sb.toString().length()-1);
    }

EDIT Please check the Mark Melling's answer below https://stackoverflow.com/a/18982842/945808 to have better solution. Mine was just a hack long time ago.

edited Jan 23 '18 at 00:05

answered Jul 18 '13 at 08:29

toantran

1,789
17
25

1

This will only work with Locales that split the date with `/` what is `.` or `-` is used for that locale – draksia Aug 24 '16 at 20:28
@draksia Then pls check the later answer from Mark Melling http://stackoverflow.com/a/18982842/945808 – toantran Aug 25 '16 at 02:35
Yeah saw that I really need it for specific locales, I made some progress today hopefully it works – draksia Aug 25 '16 at 02:37
Great, I hope the author of this question could change the accepted answer to Mark Melling's answer. My answer was just a hack at that time. – toantran Aug 25 '16 at 02:39
@VladMatvienko it is! as I said in the edit, pls check the answer from mark melling below – toantran Jan 23 '18 at 00:05

score 5 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

5

There is a static method in the API that you can call like this:

Format dateFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(getApplicationContext());

There is more discussion about it here.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

Community

1
1

answered Oct 12 '12 at 18:42

lequebecois

173
2
6

That dateFormat object has a private field called pattern which is exactly what I am looking for. But it is private and has no getter to get it. How can I get it without reflection? – Androrider Jul 29 '13 at 20:16

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered May 10 '16 at 15:50

You can use this:

private static DateFormat mDateFormat;
private static DateFormat mTimeFormat;

mDateFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(this);
mTimeFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getTimeFormat(this);

public static String getSystemDateFormat() {
    return ((SimpleDateFormat) mDateFormat).toPattern();
}

public static String getSystemTimeFormat() {
    return ((SimpleDateFormat) mTimeFormat).toPattern();
}

public static String getSystemDateTimeFormat() {
    return getSystemDateFormat() + " " + getSystemTimeFormat();
}

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 16 '14 at 14:13

based on an answer above:

String pattern = Settings.System.getString(getActivity().getContentResolver(),
Settings.System.DATE_FORMAT);
                String format;
                if (pattern.indexOf("d")<pattern.indexOf("M"))
                    format = "d/M";
                else
                    format = "M/d";
                SimpleDateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat(format);

and then use the SimpleDateFormat to format your Date objects. It's working for me.

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

1

SimpleDateFormat

I use SimpleDateFormat without custom pattern to get actual date and time in preferred format from system:

public static String getFormattedDate() {
    Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();
    SimpleDateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat(); //called without pattern
    return df.format(c.getTime());
}

returns:

13.01.15 11:45
1/13/15 10:45 AM
...

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

1
1

answered Jan 13 '15 at 10:58

Tomas

4,652
6
31
37

1

This is not working on my devices even if I change the time format on the settings... – Virthuss Jan 14 '16 at 02:32

score 0 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 03 '13 at 12:01

0

String shortDateFormat  = Settings.System.getString(context.getContentResolver(), Settings.System.DATE_FORMAT);

edited Sep 03 '13 at 12:01

laalto

150,114
66
286
303

answered Sep 03 '13 at 12:00

guest

141
1
3

My system is set to return dd/MM/yyyy and this gives me dd-MM-YYYY - so not the correct seperators. The answer above by Mark Melling however does return the correct system pattern. – slott Feb 25 '14 at 21:00
got it from docs: [android dev](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.System.html#DATE_FORMAT). Anyway answer above by Mark Melling - better solution. – guest Apr 23 '14 at 12:37

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 10 '12 at 22:55

0

According to the DateFormat documentation:

To format a date for the current Locale, use one of the static factory methods:

myString = DateFormat.getDateInstance().format(myDate);

And to format it for a different locale:

myString = DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.LONG, Locale.FRANCE).format(myDate);

answered Feb 10 '12 at 22:55

Marvin Pinto

30,138
7
37
54

4

Seems to be that my question has been misunderstood. What I need is to get the current date format string which is used by the system when DateFormat.getLongDateFormat(Context context).format(Date date) is called. I dont need the formatted date string. What I need is the format string itself. Like "mm/dd/yyyy" or whichever the system uses according to the locale set on the device. Thanks. – Androrider Feb 18 '12 at 23:35
Not possible in Android. The method getDateInstance() is undefined for the type DateFormat. – slott Feb 25 '14 at 21:03
Causes java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Bad class: class java.util.GregorianCalendar – Greg Ennis Mar 27 '15 at 03:36
Does any one know how to get the actual pattern like yyyy-MM-dd? – draksia Aug 24 '16 at 20:22

Get preferred date format string of Android system

8 Answers8

SimpleDateFormat

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