Period

public final class Period
extends Object implements ChronoPeriod, Serializable

java.lang.Object
   ↳ java.time.Period


A date-based amount of time in the ISO-8601 calendar system, such as '2 years, 3 months and 4 days'.

This class models a quantity or amount of time in terms of years, months and days. See Duration for the time-based equivalent to this class.

Durations and periods differ in their treatment of daylight savings time when added to ZonedDateTime. A Duration will add an exact number of seconds, thus a duration of one day is always exactly 24 hours. By contrast, a Period will add a conceptual day, trying to maintain the local time.

For example, consider adding a period of one day and a duration of one day to 18:00 on the evening before a daylight savings gap. The Period will add the conceptual day and result in a ZonedDateTime at 18:00 the following day. By contrast, the Duration will add exactly 24 hours, resulting in a ZonedDateTime at 19:00 the following day (assuming a one hour DST gap).

The supported units of a period are YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS. All three fields are always present, but may be set to zero.

The ISO-8601 calendar system is the modern civil calendar system used today in most of the world. It is equivalent to the proleptic Gregorian calendar system, in which today's rules for leap years are applied for all time.

The period is modeled as a directed amount of time, meaning that individual parts of the period may be negative.

Summary

Fields

public static final Period ZERO

A constant for a period of zero.

Public methods

Temporal addTo(Temporal temporal)

Adds this period to the specified temporal object.

static Period between(LocalDate startDateInclusive, LocalDate endDateExclusive)

Obtains a Period consisting of the number of years, months, and days between two dates.

boolean equals(Object obj)

Checks if this period is equal to another period.

static Period from(TemporalAmount amount)

Obtains an instance of Period from a temporal amount.

long get(TemporalUnit unit)

Gets the value of the requested unit.

IsoChronology getChronology()

Gets the chronology of this period, which is the ISO calendar system.

int getDays()

Gets the amount of days of this period.

int getMonths()

Gets the amount of months of this period.

List<TemporalUnit> getUnits()

Gets the set of units supported by this period.

int getYears()

Gets the amount of years of this period.

int hashCode()

A hash code for this period.

boolean isNegative()

Checks if any of the three units of this period are negative.

boolean isZero()

Checks if all three units of this period are zero.

Period minus(TemporalAmount amountToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified period subtracted.

Period minusDays(long daysToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified days subtracted.

Period minusMonths(long monthsToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified months subtracted.

Period minusYears(long yearsToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified years subtracted.

Period multipliedBy(int scalar)

Returns a new instance with each element in this period multiplied by the specified scalar.

Period negated()

Returns a new instance with each amount in this period negated.

Period normalized()

Returns a copy of this period with the years and months normalized.

static Period of(int years, int months, int days)

Obtains a Period representing a number of years, months and days.

static Period ofDays(int days)

Obtains a Period representing a number of days.

static Period ofMonths(int months)

Obtains a Period representing a number of months.

static Period ofWeeks(int weeks)

Obtains a Period representing a number of weeks.

static Period ofYears(int years)

Obtains a Period representing a number of years.

static Period parse(CharSequence text)

Obtains a Period from a text string such as PnYnMnD.

Period plus(TemporalAmount amountToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified period added.

Period plusDays(long daysToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified days added.

Period plusMonths(long monthsToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified months added.

Period plusYears(long yearsToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified years added.

Temporal subtractFrom(Temporal temporal)

Subtracts this period from the specified temporal object.

String toString()

Outputs this period as a String, such as P6Y3M1D.

long toTotalMonths()

Gets the total number of months in this period.

Period withDays(int days)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of days.

Period withMonths(int months)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of months.

Period withYears(int years)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of years.

Inherited methods

Fields

ZERO

Added in API level 26
public static final Period ZERO

A constant for a period of zero.

Public methods

addTo

Added in API level 26
public Temporal addTo (Temporal temporal)

Adds this period to the specified temporal object.

This returns a temporal object of the same observable type as the input with this period added. If the temporal has a chronology, it must be the ISO chronology.

In most cases, it is clearer to reverse the calling pattern by using Temporal#plus(TemporalAmount).

   // these two lines are equivalent, but the second approach is recommended
   dateTime = thisPeriod.addTo(dateTime);
   dateTime = dateTime.plus(thisPeriod);
 

The calculation operates as follows. First, the chronology of the temporal is checked to ensure it is ISO chronology or null. Second, if the months are zero, the years are added if non-zero, otherwise the combination of years and months is added if non-zero. Finally, any days are added.

This approach ensures that a partial period can be added to a partial date. For example, a period of years and/or months can be added to a YearMonth, but a period including days cannot. The approach also adds years and months together when necessary, which ensures correct behaviour at the end of the month.

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
temporal Temporal: the temporal object to adjust, not null

Returns
Temporal an object of the same type with the adjustment made, not null

Throws
DateTimeException if unable to add
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

between

Added in API level 26
public static Period between (LocalDate startDateInclusive, 
                LocalDate endDateExclusive)

Obtains a Period consisting of the number of years, months, and days between two dates.

The start date is included, but the end date is not. The period is calculated by removing complete months, then calculating the remaining number of days, adjusting to ensure that both have the same sign. The number of months is then split into years and months based on a 12 month year. A month is considered if the end day-of-month is greater than or equal to the start day-of-month. For example, from 2010-01-15 to 2011-03-18 is one year, two months and three days.

The result of this method can be a negative period if the end is before the start. The negative sign will be the same in each of year, month and day.

Parameters
startDateInclusive LocalDate: the start date, inclusive, not null

endDateExclusive LocalDate: the end date, exclusive, not null

Returns
Period the period between this date and the end date, not null

equals

Added in API level 26
public boolean equals (Object obj)

Checks if this period is equal to another period.

The comparison is based on the type Period and each of the three amounts. To be equal, the years, months and days units must be individually equal. Note that this means that a period of "15 Months" is not equal to a period of "1 Year and 3 Months".

Parameters
obj Object: the object to check, null returns false

Returns
boolean true if this is equal to the other period

from

Added in API level 26
public static Period from (TemporalAmount amount)

Obtains an instance of Period from a temporal amount.

This obtains a period based on the specified amount. A TemporalAmount represents an amount of time, which may be date-based or time-based, which this factory extracts to a Period.

The conversion loops around the set of units from the amount and uses the YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS units to create a period. If any other units are found then an exception is thrown.

If the amount is a ChronoPeriod then it must use the ISO chronology.

Parameters
amount TemporalAmount: the temporal amount to convert, not null

Returns
Period the equivalent period, not null

Throws
DateTimeException if unable to convert to a Period
ArithmeticException if the amount of years, months or days exceeds an int

get

Added in API level 26
public long get (TemporalUnit unit)

Gets the value of the requested unit.

This returns a value for each of the three supported units, YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS. All other units throw an exception.

Parameters
unit TemporalUnit: the TemporalUnit for which to return the value

Returns
long the long value of the unit

Throws
DateTimeException if the unit is not supported
UnsupportedTemporalTypeException if the unit is not supported

getChronology

Added in API level 26
public IsoChronology getChronology ()

Gets the chronology of this period, which is the ISO calendar system.

The Chronology represents the calendar system in use. The ISO-8601 calendar system is the modern civil calendar system used today in most of the world. It is equivalent to the proleptic Gregorian calendar system, in which today's rules for leap years are applied for all time.

Returns
IsoChronology the ISO chronology, not null

getDays

Added in API level 26
public int getDays ()

Gets the amount of days of this period.

This returns the days unit.

Returns
int the amount of days of this period, may be negative

getMonths

Added in API level 26
public int getMonths ()

Gets the amount of months of this period.

This returns the months unit.

The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

Returns
int the amount of months of this period, may be negative

getUnits

Added in API level 26
public List<TemporalUnit> getUnits ()

Gets the set of units supported by this period.

The supported units are YEARS, MONTHS and DAYS. They are returned in the order years, months, days.

This set can be used in conjunction with get(java.time.temporal.TemporalUnit) to access the entire state of the period.

Returns
List<TemporalUnit> a list containing the years, months and days units, not null

getYears

Added in API level 26
public int getYears ()

Gets the amount of years of this period.

This returns the years unit.

The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

Returns
int the amount of years of this period, may be negative

hashCode

Added in API level 26
public int hashCode ()

A hash code for this period.

Returns
int a suitable hash code

isNegative

Added in API level 26
public boolean isNegative ()

Checks if any of the three units of this period are negative.

This checks whether the years, months or days units are less than zero.

Returns
boolean true if any unit of this period is negative

isZero

Added in API level 26
public boolean isZero ()

Checks if all three units of this period are zero.

A zero period has the value zero for the years, months and days units.

Returns
boolean true if this period is zero-length

minus

Added in API level 26
public Period minus (TemporalAmount amountToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified period subtracted.

This operates separately on the years, months and days. No normalization is performed.

For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus "2 years, 2 months and 2 days" returns "-1 years, 4 months and 1 day".

The specified amount is typically an instance of Period. Other types are interpreted using Period#from(TemporalAmount).

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
amountToSubtract TemporalAmount: the amount to subtract, not null

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the requested period subtracted, not null

Throws
DateTimeException if the specified amount has a non-ISO chronology or contains an invalid unit
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

minusDays

Added in API level 26
public Period minusDays (long daysToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified days subtracted.

This subtracts the amount from the days unit in a copy of this period. The years and months units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus 2 days returns "1 year, 6 months and 1 day".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
daysToSubtract long: the months to subtract, positive or negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the specified days subtracted, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

minusMonths

Added in API level 26
public Period minusMonths (long monthsToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified months subtracted.

This subtracts the amount from the months unit in a copy of this period. The years and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus 2 months returns "1 year, 4 months and 3 days".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
monthsToSubtract long: the years to subtract, positive or negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the specified months subtracted, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

minusYears

Added in API level 26
public Period minusYears (long yearsToSubtract)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified years subtracted.

This subtracts the amount from the years unit in a copy of this period. The months and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" minus 2 years returns "-1 years, 6 months and 3 days".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
yearsToSubtract long: the years to subtract, positive or negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the specified years subtracted, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

multipliedBy

Added in API level 26
public Period multipliedBy (int scalar)

Returns a new instance with each element in this period multiplied by the specified scalar.

This returns a period with each of the years, months and days units individually multiplied. For example, a period of "2 years, -3 months and 4 days" multiplied by 3 will return "6 years, -9 months and 12 days". No normalization is performed.

Parameters
scalar int: the scalar to multiply by, not null

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the amounts multiplied by the scalar, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

negated

Added in API level 26
public Period negated ()

Returns a new instance with each amount in this period negated.

This returns a period with each of the years, months and days units individually negated. For example, a period of "2 years, -3 months and 4 days" will be negated to "-2 years, 3 months and -4 days". No normalization is performed.

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the amounts negated, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs, which only happens if one of the units has the value Integer.MIN_VALUE

normalized

Added in API level 26
public Period normalized ()

Returns a copy of this period with the years and months normalized.

This normalizes the years and months units, leaving the days unit unchanged. The months unit is adjusted to have an absolute value less than 12, with the years unit being adjusted to compensate. For example, a period of "1 Year and 15 months" will be normalized to "2 years and 3 months".

The sign of the years and months units will be the same after normalization. For example, a period of "1 year and -25 months" will be normalized to "-1 year and -1 month".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with excess months normalized to years, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

of

Added in API level 26
public static Period of (int years, 
                int months, 
                int days)

Obtains a Period representing a number of years, months and days.

This creates an instance based on years, months and days.

Parameters
years int: the amount of years, may be negative

months int: the amount of months, may be negative

days int: the amount of days, may be negative

Returns
Period the period of years, months and days, not null

ofDays

Added in API level 26
public static Period ofDays (int days)

Obtains a Period representing a number of days.

The resulting period will have the specified days. The years and months units will be zero.

Parameters
days int: the number of days, positive or negative

Returns
Period the period of days, not null

ofMonths

Added in API level 26
public static Period ofMonths (int months)

Obtains a Period representing a number of months.

The resulting period will have the specified months. The years and days units will be zero.

Parameters
months int: the number of months, positive or negative

Returns
Period the period of months, not null

ofWeeks

Added in API level 26
public static Period ofWeeks (int weeks)

Obtains a Period representing a number of weeks.

The resulting period will be day-based, with the amount of days equal to the number of weeks multiplied by 7. The years and months units will be zero.

Parameters
weeks int: the number of weeks, positive or negative

Returns
Period the period, with the input weeks converted to days, not null

ofYears

Added in API level 26
public static Period ofYears (int years)

Obtains a Period representing a number of years.

The resulting period will have the specified years. The months and days units will be zero.

Parameters
years int: the number of years, positive or negative

Returns
Period the period of years, not null

parse

Added in API level 26
public static Period parse (CharSequence text)

Obtains a Period from a text string such as PnYnMnD.

This will parse the string produced by toString() which is based on the ISO-8601 period formats PnYnMnD and PnW.

The string starts with an optional sign, denoted by the ASCII negative or positive symbol. If negative, the whole period is negated. The ASCII letter "P" is next in upper or lower case. There are then four sections, each consisting of a number and a suffix. At least one of the four sections must be present. The sections have suffixes in ASCII of "Y", "M", "W" and "D" for years, months, weeks and days, accepted in upper or lower case. The suffixes must occur in order. The number part of each section must consist of ASCII digits. The number may be prefixed by the ASCII negative or positive symbol. The number must parse to an int.

The leading plus/minus sign, and negative values for other units are not part of the ISO-8601 standard. In addition, ISO-8601 does not permit mixing between the PnYnMnD and PnW formats. Any week-based input is multiplied by 7 and treated as a number of days.

For example, the following are valid inputs:

   "P2Y"             -- Period.ofYears(2)
   "P3M"             -- Period.ofMonths(3)
   "P4W"             -- Period.ofWeeks(4)
   "P5D"             -- Period.ofDays(5)
   "P1Y2M3D"         -- Period.of(1, 2, 3)
   "P1Y2M3W4D"       -- Period.of(1, 2, 25)
   "P-1Y2M"          -- Period.of(-1, 2, 0)
   "-P1Y2M"          -- Period.of(-1, -2, 0)
 

Parameters
text CharSequence: the text to parse, not null

Returns
Period the parsed period, not null

Throws
DateTimeParseException if the text cannot be parsed to a period

plus

Added in API level 26
public Period plus (TemporalAmount amountToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified period added.

This operates separately on the years, months and days. No normalization is performed.

For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus "2 years, 2 months and 2 days" returns "3 years, 8 months and 5 days".

The specified amount is typically an instance of Period. Other types are interpreted using Period#from(TemporalAmount).

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
amountToAdd TemporalAmount: the amount to add, not null

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the requested period added, not null

Throws
DateTimeException if the specified amount has a non-ISO chronology or contains an invalid unit
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

plusDays

Added in API level 26
public Period plusDays (long daysToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified days added.

This adds the amount to the days unit in a copy of this period. The years and months units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus 2 days returns "1 year, 6 months and 5 days".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
daysToAdd long: the days to add, positive or negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the specified days added, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

plusMonths

Added in API level 26
public Period plusMonths (long monthsToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified months added.

This adds the amount to the months unit in a copy of this period. The years and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus 2 months returns "1 year, 8 months and 3 days".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
monthsToAdd long: the months to add, positive or negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the specified months added, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

plusYears

Added in API level 26
public Period plusYears (long yearsToAdd)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified years added.

This adds the amount to the years unit in a copy of this period. The months and days units are unaffected. For example, "1 year, 6 months and 3 days" plus 2 years returns "3 years, 6 months and 3 days".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
yearsToAdd long: the years to add, positive or negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the specified years added, not null

Throws
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

subtractFrom

Added in API level 26
public Temporal subtractFrom (Temporal temporal)

Subtracts this period from the specified temporal object.

This returns a temporal object of the same observable type as the input with this period subtracted. If the temporal has a chronology, it must be the ISO chronology.

In most cases, it is clearer to reverse the calling pattern by using Temporal#minus(TemporalAmount).

   // these two lines are equivalent, but the second approach is recommended
   dateTime = thisPeriod.subtractFrom(dateTime);
   dateTime = dateTime.minus(thisPeriod);
 

The calculation operates as follows. First, the chronology of the temporal is checked to ensure it is ISO chronology or null. Second, if the months are zero, the years are subtracted if non-zero, otherwise the combination of years and months is subtracted if non-zero. Finally, any days are subtracted.

This approach ensures that a partial period can be subtracted from a partial date. For example, a period of years and/or months can be subtracted from a YearMonth, but a period including days cannot. The approach also subtracts years and months together when necessary, which ensures correct behaviour at the end of the month.

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
temporal Temporal: the temporal object to adjust, not null

Returns
Temporal an object of the same type with the adjustment made, not null

Throws
DateTimeException if unable to subtract
ArithmeticException if numeric overflow occurs

toString

Added in API level 26
public String toString ()

Outputs this period as a String, such as P6Y3M1D.

The output will be in the ISO-8601 period format. A zero period will be represented as zero days, 'P0D'.

Returns
String a string representation of this period, not null

toTotalMonths

Added in API level 26
public long toTotalMonths ()

Gets the total number of months in this period.

This returns the total number of months in the period by multiplying the number of years by 12 and adding the number of months.

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Returns
long the total number of months in the period, may be negative

withDays

Added in API level 26
public Period withDays (int days)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of days.

This sets the amount of the days unit in a copy of this period. The years and months units are unaffected.

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
days int: the days to represent, may be negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the requested days, not null

withMonths

Added in API level 26
public Period withMonths (int months)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of months.

This sets the amount of the months unit in a copy of this period. The years and days units are unaffected.

The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
months int: the months to represent, may be negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the requested months, not null

withYears

Added in API level 26
public Period withYears (int years)

Returns a copy of this period with the specified amount of years.

This sets the amount of the years unit in a copy of this period. The months and days units are unaffected.

The months unit is not automatically normalized with the years unit. This means that a period of "15 months" is different to a period of "1 year and 3 months".

This instance is immutable and unaffected by this method call.

Parameters
years int: the years to represent, may be negative

Returns
Period a Period based on this period with the requested years, not null