Relative indexes are especially useful when creating custom time and date formats : Formatter Argument Index « Development « Java Tutorial






Because of relative indexing, the argument cal need only be passed once, rather than three times.

import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Formatter;

public class MainClass {
  public static void main(String args[]) {
    Formatter fmt = new Formatter();
    Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();

    fmt.format("Today is day %te of %<tB, %<tY", cal);
    System.out.println(fmt);
  }
}
Today is day 1 of December, 2006








6.11.Formatter Argument Index
6.11.1.Using an Argument Index
6.11.2.Argument indexes enable you to reuse an argument without having to specify it twice
6.11.3.Relative index enables you to reuse the argument matched by the preceding format specifier
6.11.4.Relative indexes are especially useful when creating custom time and date formats