How to convert Milliseconds to "X mins, x seconds" in Java?

java, time

Solution

Use the `java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit` class:

String.format("%d min, %d sec", 
    TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toMinutes(millis),
    TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toSeconds(millis) - 
    TimeUnit.MINUTES.toSeconds(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toMinutes(millis))
);

Note: `TimeUnit` is part of the Java 1.5 specification, but `toMinutes` was added as of Java 1.6.

To add a leading zero for values 0-9, just do:

String.format("%02d min, %02d sec", 
    TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toMinutes(millis),
    TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toSeconds(millis) - 
    TimeUnit.MINUTES.toSeconds(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toMinutes(millis))
);

If `TimeUnit` or `toMinutes` are unsupported (such as on Android before API version 9), use the following equations:

int seconds = (int) (milliseconds / 1000) % 60 ;
int minutes = (int) ((milliseconds / (1000*60)) % 60);
int hours   = (int) ((milliseconds / (1000*60*60)) % 24);
//etc...

Problem

I want to record the time using `System.currentTimeMillis()` when a user begins something in my program. When he finishes, I will subtract the current `System.currentTimeMillis()` from the `start` variable, and I want to show them the time elapsed using a human readable format such as "XX hours, XX mins, XX seconds" or even "XX mins, XX seconds" because its not likely to take someone an hour. What's the best way to do this?

Original source

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