Calendar with Locale

[Himalay Majumdar]

import java.util.*;

public class Cal {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Date d1 = new Date();
		System.out.println(d1); 
			
		Locale l = new Locale("hi","IN");

		Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance(l);   // Passing the locale

		c.setTime(d1);      
		System.out.println(c.getTime()); 

	}

}

The above code takes Locale reference in Calendar. I was expecting the output to be

Thu Feb 26 10:11:16 EST 2009
??? ??, ???

because of the locale is not defined, where as the actual output is

Thu Feb 26 10:11:16 EST 2009
Thu Feb 26 10:11:16 EST 2009

Can anyone explain me the use of Locale reference in the Calendar's getInstance() method.

[Ankit Garg]

Look this is not the fault of Calendar class. calling calendar.getTime() returns a Date instance. A date instance is not associated with any locale or time zone. Try displaying the calendar object itself and then see the output ...

[Ankit Garg]

Also to add, the java.text.DateFormat class is used to format a date instance according to a locale...

[Himalay Majumdar]

Right Ankit, we have DateFormat class to play with Locales, so my question is when do we need to use Locale reference in Calendar?

[Byju Joy]

Locale("th", "TH") --> you get a BuddhistCalendar.
and Locale("ja", "JP") --> you get a JapaneseImperialCalendar

All other Locales including Locale("hi", "IN") returns the default GregorianCalendar.

[khaled Jamal]

It is stated in k&B that Calendar.getInstance(Locale locale) is used for getting an object that lets you perform date and time calculations in a DIFFERENT locale


here is a sample code :

   
public static void main(String[] args)  {
		Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance(Locale.ITALIAN);  Line 1 
                              //Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance(); Line 2

		c.add(Calendar.MONTH, 3);
		Date d = c.getTime(); 
		System.out.println(d); // Line 3 
		System.out.println(DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.LONG, Locale.ITALIAN).format(d)); // Line 4 	
	}

The output is :

Tue May 26 18:18:44 GMT 2009
26 maggio 2009


the funny about all this is when commenting Line 1 and uncommenting Line 2 the result is the same


Let us please know if Calendar.getInstance(Locale locale) has an effect

[Ruben Soto]

I think Byju already explained it.

[khaled Jamal]

I did not know what does Gregorian Calendar mean so I did not read the post carefully, after googling it I got it

The Gregorian Calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar

Thanks

[Himalay Majumdar]

package dates;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Locale;

public class JapaneseCalendar {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    Locale locale = new Locale("ja", "JP");
    Calendar now = Calendar.getInstance(locale);
    System.out.println(now);
    
  }
}

If I do the above in 1.5 I get the following output

java.util.GregorianCalendar[time=1235681681766,areFieldsSet=true......

Nowhere I find Japanese Calendar

But as of java 6, new Locales have been added

Following code from java2s should work fine.
Am at work..that has java 5 , will try it at home . But I think this is it.

import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Locale;
import java.util.Map;

public class JapaneseCalendar {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    Locale locale = new Locale("ja", "JP", "JP");
    Calendar now = Calendar.getInstance(locale);

    Map<String, Integer> names = now.getDisplayNames(Calendar.ERA, Calendar.LONG, locale);
    System.out.printf("%s%n", names);
    System.out.printf("It is year %tY of the current era%n", now);
    System.out.printf("The calendar class is: %s%n", now.getClass().getName());
  }
}