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getConditionallyRelativeFormattedTimeSpan shows literal %dm instead of a number for anything under 1 hour

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Assessment

Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
75/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
android, kotlin
Domain
internationalization, mobile

Research direction

The bug is in core/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/android/common/core/utils/DateFormatter.kt. Start by locating the function getConditionallyRelativeFormattedTimeSpan and the branch for spans less than ONE_HOUR_IN_MILLIS. The fix is to use the three-argument getQuantityString overload, passing the minutes count for substitution. Also update the corresponding test in DateFormatterTest.kt to use the correct method. Check the Dutch translation file values-nl/strings.xml for the missing plural string while you're there. Run the tests to verify the fix.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Summary

For a timestamp less than an hour old, DateFormatter.getConditionallyRelativeFormattedTimeSpan() returns the literal unsubstituted string %dm instead of e.g. 13m. Reproduced via the Notes app (it.niedermann.owncloud.notes), which uses this library — the note list showed %dm for any note modified 1–59 minutes ago, while notes older than an hour rendered correctly ("10 u" etc.).

Root cause

In core/src/main/java/com/nextcloud/android/common/core/utils/DateFormatter.kt, the "less than 1h" branch calls the 2-argument Resources.getQuantityString(int, int) overload, which selects a plural form but performs no substitution:

span < ONE_HOUR_IN_MILLIS -> {
    context.resources
        .getQuantityString(
            R.plurals.date_formatting_relative_minutes,
            span.toInt() / ONE_MINUTE_IN_MILLIS
        )
}

Since values/strings.xml defines this plural as <item quantity="other">%dm</item>, the %d is never substituted. The next branch (hours) uses the correct 3-arg overload:

val hours: Int = span.toInt() / ONE_HOUR_IN_MILLIS
context.resources.getQuantityString(R.plurals.date_formatting_relative_hours, hours, hours)
Suggested fix
span < ONE_HOUR_IN_MILLIS -> {
    val minutes = span.toInt() / ONE_MINUTE_IN_MILLIS
    context.resources.getQuantityString(R.plurals.date_formatting_relative_minutes, minutes, minutes)
}
Note on test coverage

DateFormatterTest.kt's Test relative minutes formatting computes its expected value with the same broken 2-arg call, so it passes despite the bug — worth using the 3-arg form there too once fixed, to actually catch this.

Secondary, unrelated gap

values-nl/strings.xml doesn't translate date_formatting_relative_minutes at all (only date_formatting_now and date_formatting_relative_hours are present), so Dutch falls back to the English base string for that one plural. Doesn't affect the substitution bug either way, but worth completing while in there.

Environment
  • Nextcloud Notes app, via com.nextcloud.android.common:core (whatever version it currently pulls)
  • LineageOS 22 (Android 15), Dutch (nl) locale
  • OnePlus 6
Dominant language
Java
Stars
6
Forks
4
Avg merge
6h 28m
Merged PRs (30d)
30

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