Java 8: Difference between two LocalDateTime in multiple units

Question

I am trying to calculate the difference between two LocalDateTime.

The output needs to be of the format y years m months d days h hours m minutes

Answer 1

There is some problem for Tapas Bose code and Thomas code. If time differenсe is negative, array gets the negative values. For example if

LocalDateTime toDateTime = LocalDateTime.of(2014, 9, 10, 6, 46, 45);
LocalDateTime fromDateTime = LocalDateTime.of(2014, 9, 9, 7, 46, 45);

it returns 0 years 0 months 1 days -1 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds.

I think the right output is: 0 years 0 months 0 days 23 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds.

I propose to separate the LocalDateTime instances on LocalDate and LocalTime instances. After that we can obtain the Java 8 Period and Duration instances. The Duration instance is separated on the number of days and throughout-the-day time value (< 24h) with subsequent correction of the period value. When the second LocalTime value is before the firstLocalTime value, it is necessary to reduce the period for one day.

Here's my way to calculate the LocalDateTime difference:

private void getChronoUnitForSecondAfterFirst(LocalDateTime firstLocalDateTime, LocalDateTime secondLocalDateTime, long[] chronoUnits) {
    /*Separate LocaldateTime on LocalDate and LocalTime*/
    LocalDate firstLocalDate = firstLocalDateTime.toLocalDate();
    LocalTime firstLocalTime = firstLocalDateTime.toLocalTime();

    LocalDate secondLocalDate = secondLocalDateTime.toLocalDate();
    LocalTime secondLocalTime = secondLocalDateTime.toLocalTime();

    /*Calculate the time difference*/
    Duration duration = Duration.between(firstLocalDateTime, secondLocalDateTime);
    long durationDays = duration.toDays();
    Duration throughoutTheDayDuration = duration.minusDays(durationDays);
    Logger.getLogger(PeriodDuration.class.getName()).log(Level.INFO,
            "Duration is: " + duration + " this is " + durationDays
            + " days and " + throughoutTheDayDuration + " time.");

    Period period = Period.between(firstLocalDate, secondLocalDate);

    /*Correct the date difference*/
    if (secondLocalTime.isBefore(firstLocalTime)) {
        period = period.minusDays(1);
        Logger.getLogger(PeriodDuration.class.getName()).log(Level.INFO,
                "minus 1 day");
    }

    Logger.getLogger(PeriodDuration.class.getName()).log(Level.INFO,
            "Period between " + firstLocalDateTime + " and "
            + secondLocalDateTime + " is: " + period + " and duration is: "
            + throughoutTheDayDuration
            + "\n-----------------------------------------------------------------");

    /*Calculate chrono unit values and  write it in array*/
    chronoUnits[0] = period.getYears();
    chronoUnits[1] = period.getMonths();
    chronoUnits[2] = period.getDays();
    chronoUnits[3] = throughoutTheDayDuration.toHours();
    chronoUnits[4] = throughoutTheDayDuration.toMinutes() % 60;
    chronoUnits[5] = throughoutTheDayDuration.getSeconds() % 60;
}

The above method can be used to calculate the difference of any local date and time values, for example:

public long[] getChronoUnits(String firstLocalDateTimeString, String secondLocalDateTimeString) {
    DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");

    LocalDateTime firstLocalDateTime = LocalDateTime.parse(firstLocalDateTimeString, formatter);
    LocalDateTime secondLocalDateTime = LocalDateTime.parse(secondLocalDateTimeString, formatter);

    long[] chronoUnits = new long[6];
    if (secondLocalDateTime.isAfter(firstLocalDateTime)) {
        getChronoUnitForSecondAfterFirst(firstLocalDateTime, secondLocalDateTime, chronoUnits);
    } else {
        getChronoUnitForSecondAfterFirst(secondLocalDateTime, firstLocalDateTime, chronoUnits);
    }
    return chronoUnits;
}

It is convenient to write a unit test for the above method (both of them are PeriodDuration class members). Here's the code:

@RunWith(Parameterized.class)
public class PeriodDurationTest {

private final String firstLocalDateTimeString;
private final String secondLocalDateTimeString;
private final long[] chronoUnits;

public PeriodDurationTest(String firstLocalDateTimeString, String secondLocalDateTimeString, long[] chronoUnits) {
    this.firstLocalDateTimeString = firstLocalDateTimeString;
    this.secondLocalDateTimeString = secondLocalDateTimeString;
    this.chronoUnits = chronoUnits;
}

@Parameters
public static Collection periodValues() {
    long[] chronoUnits0 = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0};
    long[] chronoUnits1 = {0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0};
    long[] chronoUnits2 = {0, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0};
    long[] chronoUnits3 = {0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0};
    long[] chronoUnits4 = {0, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0};
    long[] chronoUnits5 = {0, 0, 1, 23, 0, 0};
    long[] chronoUnits6 = {29, 8, 24, 12, 0, 50};
    long[] chronoUnits7 = {29, 8, 24, 12, 0, 50};
    return Arrays.asList(new Object[][]{
        {"2015-09-09 21:46:44", "2015-09-09 21:46:44", chronoUnits0},
        {"2015-09-09 21:46:44", "2015-09-09 22:46:44", chronoUnits1},
        {"2015-09-09 21:46:44", "2015-09-10 20:46:44", chronoUnits2},
        {"2015-09-09 21:46:44", "2015-09-09 20:46:44", chronoUnits3},
        {"2015-09-10 20:46:44", "2015-09-09 21:46:44", chronoUnits4},
        {"2015-09-11 20:46:44", "2015-09-09 21:46:44", chronoUnits5},
        {"1984-12-16 07:45:55", "2014-09-09 19:46:45", chronoUnits6},
        {"2014-09-09 19:46:45", "1984-12-16 07:45:55", chronoUnits6}
    });
}

@Test
public void testGetChronoUnits() {
    PeriodDuration instance = new PeriodDuration();
    long[] expResult = this.chronoUnits;
    long[] result = instance.getChronoUnits(this.firstLocalDateTimeString, this.secondLocalDateTimeString);
    assertArrayEquals(expResult, result);
}

}

All tests are successful whether or not the value of the first LocalDateTime is before and for any LocalTime values.