.clear()

The method .clear() method of the Calendar class is used to reset or clear specific fields of the given instance to their default values. It allows the reset of individual fields, such as YEAR, MONTH, DAY_OF_MONTH, HOUR, etc., to their initial state.

Syntax

myCalendar.clear()
myCalendar.clear(field)

Note: Without any parameters, the .clear method clears all fields of the Calendar instance, thereby resetting it to its initial state. The .clear(field) method allows a specific field to be cleared by providing the corresponding field constant from the Calendar class.

Example

In this example, the CalendarClearExample class demonstrates the use of .clear() and .clear(field) methods. The first part clears all fields of the Calendar instance, while the second part clears the YEAR field, effectively setting it to its default value (which is 1970).

import java.util.Calendar;

public class CalendarClearExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create a Calendar instance representing the current date and time
        Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();

        System.out.println("Before clearing: " + calendar.getTime());

        // Clear all fields using clear()
        calendar.clear();

        System.out.println("After clearing all fields: " + calendar.getTime());

        // Set the calendar to a specific date and time
        calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2023);
        calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, Calendar.JULY);
        calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 19);
        calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, 15);
        calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 30);

        System.out.println("Before clearing specific field: " + calendar.getTime());

        // Clear the YEAR field using clear(int field)
        calendar.clear(Calendar.YEAR);

        System.out.println("After clearing YEAR field: " + calendar.getTime());
    }
}

This code will return an output similar to the following:

Before clearing: Wed Jul 19 17:39:21 UTC 2023
After clearing all fields: Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 1970
Before clearing specific field: Tue Jul 19 15:30:00 UTC 2023
After clearing YEAR field: Thu Jan 01 15:30:00 UTC 1970