Android: Convert string to a time

Question

I am trying to convert a string that contains a time stamp to a time that is consistent with androids RelativeDateTimeString, so I can format it as a relative time. The time stamps that I get are in this format:

2011-08-17 04:57:38

I would like to take that string and pass it through my relative time function here:

    public void RelativeTime(Long time){
    String str = (String) DateUtils.getRelativeDateTimeString(

            this, // Suppose you are in an activity or other Context subclass

            time, // The time to display

            DateUtils.SECOND_IN_MILLIS, // The resolution. This will display only minutes 
                              // (no "3 seconds ago"

            DateUtils.WEEK_IN_MILLIS, // The maximum resolution at which the time will switch 
                             // to default date instead of spans. This will not 
                             // display "3 weeks ago" but a full date instead

            0); // Eventual flags

    toast(str);

}

So the function should show a toast of "2 days ago" etc.

EDIT: Sorry I have a toast function I've written as well.

public void toast(String text){
    Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), text, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}

Answer 1

Use SimpleDateFormat and it's parse() function to convert your timestamp from a string to a Date object. After that you can use Date.getTime() to get the long value of your timestamp in ms.