Strings as Dates and difference

[kryptonian03]

Good day guys!

If i have a string lets say "8:00AM" and a "1:00PM" how can i set the string as time can compute for a difference which is 3 hours...

Thank you very much!!!

[vitthal]

This Example may help you!
Set time whatever you want!

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;  
import java.util.Calendar;  
import java.util.Date;  
import java.util.TimeZone;  
  
public class DateTest {  
  
public class DateTest {  
  
static SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yyyy");  
  
public static void main(String[] args) {  
  
  TimeZone.setDefault(TimeZone.getTimeZone("Europe/London"));  
  
  //diff between these 2 dates should be 1  
  Date d1 = new Date("01/01/2007 12:00:00");  
  Date d2 = new Date("01/02/2007 12:00:00");  
  
  //diff between these 2 dates should be 1  
  Date d3 = new Date("03/24/2007 12:00:00");  
  Date d4 = new Date("03/25/2007 12:00:00");  
  
  Calendar cal1 = Calendar.getInstance();cal1.setTime(d1);  
  Calendar cal2 = Calendar.getInstance();cal2.setTime(d2);  
  Calendar cal3 = Calendar.getInstance();cal3.setTime(d3);  
  Calendar cal4 = Calendar.getInstance();cal4.setTime(d4);  
  
  printOutput("Manual   ", d1, d2, calculateDays(d1, d2));  
  printOutput("Calendar ", d1, d2, daysBetween(cal1, cal2));  
  System.out.println("---");  
  printOutput("Manual   ", d3, d4, calculateDays(d3, d4));  
  printOutput("Calendar ", d3, d4, daysBetween(cal3, cal4));  
}  
  
  
private static void printOutput(String type, Date d1, Date d2, long result) {  
  System.out.println(type+ "- Days between: " + sdf.format(d1)  
                    + " and " + sdf.format(d2) + " is: " + result);  
}  
  
/** Manual Method - YIELDS INCORRECT RESULTS - DO NOT USE**/  
/* This method is used to find the no of days between the given dates */  
public static long calculateDays(Date dateEarly, Date dateLater) {  
  return (dateLater.getTime() - dateEarly.getTime()) / (24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);  
}  
  
/** Using Calendar - THE CORRECT WAY**/  
public static long daysBetween(Calendar startDate, Calendar endDate) {  
  Calendar date = (Calendar) startDate.clone();  
  long daysBetween = 0;  
  while (date.before(endDate)) {  
    date.add(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 1);  
    daysBetween++;  
  }  
  return daysBetween;  
}  
}

OUTPUT:
Manual - Days between: 01-Jan-2007 and 02-Jan-2007 is: 1
Calendar - Days between: 01-Jan-2007 and 02-Jan-2007 is: 1
---
Manual - Days between: 24-Mar-2007 and 25-Mar-2007 is: 0
Calendar - Days between: 24-Mar-2007 and 25-Mar-2007 is: 1

[kryptonian03]

Thanks for the post... but what i want is to input two times (eg. 9:16AM and 1:30PM)... What shall i do to get the date difference of hours and minutes?

[Fubarable]

A little algebra perhaps is all you need. What have you tried?

[kryptonian03]

I have tried using spilt which splits up time in and time out from ":" ... WHich means time in will produce 9 and 16 and the time out will have 1 and 30... but it seems its not right in finding out the difference here... What shall i do?

[Fubarable]

Without your code, I have no idea what you're doing wrong. About all I can do is wish you luck.

[kryptonian03]

Im sorry about not posting the code, here it is:

import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
public class Splitter{
	public static void main (String args []){
		Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
		String timein;
		String timeout;
		
		System.out.println("Use the format hh:mm in entering of data: ");
		System.out.println("Log-in: ");
		timein = input.nextLine();
		System.out.println("Log-out: ");
		timeout = input.nextLine();		
		String[] myStringArrayin= timein.split(":");
		String[] myStringArrayout= timeout.split(":");
		int[] myTimein = new int[myStringArrayin.length];
		int[] myTimeout = new int[myStringArrayin.length];
		
		for (int i = 0; i < myStringArrayin.length; i++) {
			myTimein[i] = Integer.parseInt(myStringArrayin[i]);	}
		System.out.println();
		for (int i = 0; i < myStringArrayout.length; i++) {
			myTimeout[i] = Integer.parseInt(myStringArrayout[i]);	}
		
		System.out.println(myTimein[0] + "   " + myTimein[1]);
		System.out.println(myTimeout[0] + "   " + myTimeout[1]);
		
		int [] myTimeDiff =  new int [2];
		myTimeDiff[0]=myTimeout[0] - myTimein[0];
		myTimeDiff[1]=myTimeout[1] - myTimein[1];
		
		
		System.out.println(myTimeDiff[0] + "   " + myTimeDiff[1]);


	}
}

It splits up time in and time out and can display the difference but it needs a little bit of tweaking specially on time difference on minutes... Thanks a lot

[FlipPoker@gmail.com]

You can do this without touching your initial input times. Just parse it as a date/time string (adding some common date of course):

    SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd hh:mmaa");
    String syyyyMMdd = "20110320";
    String sTime1 = "8:00AM";
    String sTime2 = "1:00PM";

    try {
        Date date1 = format.parse(syyyyMMdd + " " + sTime1);
        Date date2 = format.parse(syyyyMMdd + " " + sTime2);
        long lSeconds = (date2.getTime() - date1.getTime())/1000;
        System.out.println("difference in seconds:  " + lSeconds);
        System.out.println("difference in minutes:  " + lSeconds/60);
        System.out.println("  difference in hours:  " + lSeconds/(3600));
    } catch (ParseException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }