Question

I want to get the difference between two times P (start time) and Q (end time) using Joda Time. P and Q could be times on different days or even on the same day. I want to get the difference in format HH-MM-SS, where H=hours, M=minutes, S=seconds.

I want to use this functionality in a timer. I assume that no one will use my timer to measure more than 24 hours.

Please guide me to do this.

Answer 1

Take a look at the Joda time FAQ
http://joda-time.sourceforge.net/faq.html#datediff

And you can use a PeriodFormatter to get the format of your choice. Try the following sample code.

DateTime dt = new DateTime();
DateTime twoHoursLater = dt.plusHours(2).plusMinutes(10).plusSeconds(5);
Period period = new Period(dt, twoHoursLater);
PeriodFormatter HHMMSSFormater = new PeriodFormatterBuilder()
        .printZeroAlways()
        .minimumPrintedDigits(2)
        .appendHours().appendSeparator("-")
        .appendMinutes().appendSeparator("-")
        .appendSeconds()
        .toFormatter(); // produce thread-safe formatter
System.out.println(HHMMSSFormater.print(period));