How to calculate the difference between two Java java.sql.Timestamps?

Question

Please include the nanos, otherwise it would be trivial:

long diff = Math.abs(t1.getTime () - t2.getTime ());

[EDIT] I want the most precise result, so no doubles; only integer/long arithmetic. Also, the result must be positive. Pseudo code:

Timestamp result = abs (t1 - t2);

Examples:

t1 = (time=1001, nanos=1000000), t2 = (time=999, nanos=999000000)
 -> diff = (time=2, nanos=2000000)

Yes, milliseconds in java.sql.Timestamp are duplicated in the time and the nanos par, so 1001 milliseconds means 1 second (1000) and 1 milli which is in the time part and the nanos part because 1 millisecond = 1000000 nanoseconds). This is much more devious than it looks.

I suggest not to post an answer without actually testing the code or having a working code sample ready :)

Answer 1

After one hour and various unit tests, I came up with this solution:

public static Timestamp diff (java.util.Date t1, java.util.Date t2)
{
    // Make sure the result is always > 0
    if (t1.compareTo (t2) < 0)
    {
        java.util.Date tmp = t1;
        t1 = t2;
        t2 = tmp;
    }

    // Timestamps mix milli and nanoseconds in the API, so we have to separate the two
    long diffSeconds = (t1.getTime () / 1000) - (t2.getTime () / 1000);
    // For normals dates, we have millisecond precision
    int nano1 = ((int) t1.getTime () % 1000) * 1000000;
    // If the parameter is a Timestamp, we have additional precision in nanoseconds
    if (t1 instanceof Timestamp)
        nano1 = ((Timestamp)t1).getNanos ();
    int nano2 = ((int) t2.getTime () % 1000) * 1000000;
    if (t2 instanceof Timestamp)
        nano2 = ((Timestamp)t2).getNanos ();

    int diffNanos = nano1 - nano2;
    if (diffNanos < 0)
    {
        // Borrow one second
        diffSeconds --;
        diffNanos += 1000000000;
    }

    // mix nanos and millis again
    Timestamp result = new Timestamp ((diffSeconds * 1000) + (diffNanos / 1000000));
    // setNanos() with a value of in the millisecond range doesn't affect the value of the time field
    // while milliseconds in the time field will modify nanos! Damn, this API is a *mess*
    result.setNanos (diffNanos);
    return result;
}

Unit tests:

    Timestamp t1 = new Timestamp (0);
    Timestamp t3 = new Timestamp (999);
    Timestamp t4 = new Timestamp (5001);
    // Careful here; internally, Java has set nanos already!
    t4.setNanos (t4.getNanos () + 1);

    // Show what a mess this API is...
    // Yes, the milliseconds show up in *both* fields! Isn't that fun?
    assertEquals (999, t3.getTime ());
    assertEquals (999000000, t3.getNanos ());
    // This looks weird but t4 contains 5 seconds, 1 milli, 1 nano.
    // The lone milli is in both results ...
    assertEquals (5001, t4.getTime ());
    assertEquals (1000001, t4.getNanos ());

    diff = DBUtil.diff (t1, t4);
    assertEquals (5001, diff.getTime ());
    assertEquals (1000001, diff.getNanos ());

    diff = DBUtil.diff (t4, t3);
    assertEquals (4002, diff.getTime ());
    assertEquals (2000001, diff.getNanos ());

Answer 2

I use this method to get difference between 2 java.sql.Timestmap

/**
 * Get a diff between two timestamps.
 *
 * @param oldTs The older timestamp
 * @param newTs The newer timestamp
 * @param timeUnit The unit in which you want the diff
 * @return The diff value, in the provided time unit.
 */
public static long getDateDiff(Timestamp oldTs, Timestamp newTs, TimeUnit timeUnit) {
    long diffInMS = newTs.getTime() - oldTs.getTime();
    return timeUnit.convert(diffInMS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
}

// Examples:
// long diffMinutes = getDateDiff(oldTs, newTs, TimeUnit.MINUTES);
// long diffHours = getDateDiff(oldTs, newTs, TimeUnit.HOURS);