Java SQL Time toString() Method with Example

In this article, you'll learn how to convert a Time object into a String using the toString() method from the java.sql.Time class. This method allows us to easily transform a Time object into its JDBC escape format, which can then be handled as a string.

//Retrieving the Time object
Time timeObj = rs.getTime("DeliveryTime");
//Converting the Time object to String format
String time = timeObj.toString();

Steps for using Java sql.Time toString() Method

Following are the steps for using Java sql.Time toString() Method ?

• Create a MySQL table named dispatches.
• Insert some sample records into the table.
• Establish a JDBC connection to the MySQL database.
• Retrieve the time value from the dispatches table.
• Convert the retrieved Time object into a String using the toString() method.
• Display the converted time along with other data.

Java sql.Time toString() method example

Let us create a table with name dispatches in MySQL database using the CREATE statement as follows ?

CREATE TABLE dispatches(
 ProductName VARCHAR(255),
 CustomerName VARCHAR(255),
 DispatchDate date,
 DeliveryTime time,
 Price INT,
 Location VARCHAR(255));

Now, we will insert 5 records in the dispatches table using INSERT statements ?

insert into dispatches values('Key-Board', 'Raja', DATE('2019-09-01'), TIME('11:00:00'), 7000, 'Hyderabad');
insert into dispatches values('Earphones', 'Roja', DATE('2019-05-01'), TIME('11:00:00'), 2000, 'Vishakhapatnam');
insert into dispatches values('Mouse', 'Puja', DATE('2019-03-01'), TIME('10:59:59'), 3000, 'Vijayawada');
insert into dispatches values('Mobile', 'Vanaja', DATE('2019-03-01'), TIME('10:10:52'), 9000, 'Chennai');
insert into dispatches values('Headset', 'Jalaja', DATE('2019-04-06'), TIME('11:08:59'), 6000, 'Goa');

The JDBC program establishes a connection with the database and retrieves the contents of the dispatches table.

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.sql.Statement;
import java.sql.Time;
public class Time_toString {
   public static void main(String args[]) throws SQLException {
      //Registering the Driver
      DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.mysql.jdbc.Driver());
      //Getting the connection
      String mysqlUrl = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/mydatabase";
      Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(mysqlUrl, "root", "password");
      System.out.println("Connection established......");
      //Creating a Statement object
      Statement stmt = con.createStatement();
      //Query to retrieve the contents of the dispatches table
      String query = "select * from dispatches";
      //Executing the query
      ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(query);
      while(rs.next()) {
         System.out.println("Product Name: "+rs.getString("ProductName"));
         System.out.println("Customer Name: "+rs.getString("CustomerName"));
         System.out.println("Dispatch Date: "+rs.getDate("DispatchDate"));
         Time timeObj = rs.getTime("DeliveryTime");
         //Converting the Time object to String format
         String time = timeObj.toString();
         System.out.println("Delivery time in String format: "+time);
         System.out.println("Location: "+rs.getString("Location"));
         System.out.println();
      }  
   }
}

Here, in this program while retrieving the column values we have converted the Delivery Time value from Time object to string format using the toString() method of the Time class and displayed it.

Output

Connection established......
Product Name: Key-Board
Customer Name: Raja
Dispatch Date: 2019-09-01
Delivery time in String format: 11:00:00
Location: Hyderabad
Product Name: Earphones
Customer Name: Roja
Dispatch Date: 2019-05-01
Delivery time in String format: 11:00:00
Location: Vishakhapatnam
Product Name: Mouse
Customer Name: Puja
Dispatch Date: 2019-03-01
Delivery time in String format: 10:59:59
Location: Vijayawada
Product Name: Mobile
Customer Name: Vanaja
Dispatch Date: 2019-03-01
Delivery time in String format: 10:10:52
Location: Chennai
Product Name: Headset
Customer Name: Jalaja
Dispatch Date: 2019-04-06
Delivery time in String format: 11:08:59
Location: Goa

Code Explanation

The program given above starts by registering the MySQL driver and establishing a connection to the database using DriverManager. We create a Statement object to execute SQL queries and retrieve the data from the dispatches table using ResultSet. When we reach the DeliveryTime field, we use the getTime() method to get the time as a Time object.

This object is then converted to a string using the toString() method, which formats the time in a way that can be easily displayed or further processed. Finally, the converted time and other information are printed to the console.