Date: 2011oct28 Update: 2025sep17 Language: Java Keywords: GregorianCalendar Q. Java: Get the 12-hour time when I am using Calendar? (Eg 1pm for 13:00) A. Calendar has HOUR (which seems to be a 12-hour time) and HOUR_OF_DAY (which is the 24-hour time). But HOUR gives an unexpected result from noon to 1pm and midnight to 1am. It is 0 instead of 12. Here is a full example:

import java.util.Calendar; import java.util.GregorianCalendar; class Demo { // I prefer to use HOUR_OF_DAY and convert it myself static int get12Hour(Calendar cal) { int hour = cal.get(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY); if (hour == 0) hour = 12; // at 30 minutes into the day we want 12:30 not 00:30 if (hour > 12) hour -= 12; return hour; } public static void main(String []args) { final GregorianCalendar mycal = new GregorianCalendar(); // We can not use Calendar.HOUR (12-hour time) because it gives // hour=0 for noon final int hourWrong = mycal.get(Calendar.HOUR); // WRONG System.out.println("sometimes wrong 12 hour=" + hourWrong); // So I prefer to use my own function final int hourGood = get12Hour(mycal); System.out.println("correct 12 hour=" + hourGood); } }

Output (at 12:05 in the afternoon):

sometimes wrong 12 hour=0 correct 12 hour=12