Java equivalent of Php substr()

Question

I am a Java developer but I need a code to be converted from PHP to Java. I need a function which gives equivalent result in Java as of PHP fuction substr (as Java doesn't take negative values whereas php takes).

For example:

   $string = "I am not lonely man";
   $sub = $substr($string,1,-3);

EDIT: PROPER ANSWER:-

public  String substr(String string,int from,int to){
    if(from < 0 && to < 0){
        if(Math.abs(from) > Math.abs(to)){
            String s = string.substring(string.length()-Math.abs(from));
            return s.substring(s.length()-Math.abs(to));
        }else{
            return "";
        }
   }else if(from >= 0 && to < 0){
        String s = string.substring(from);
       if(Math.abs(to) >= s.length()){
           return "";
       }else{
           return s.substring(0,s.length()-Math.abs(to));
       }


    }else if(from < 0 && to >= 0){
        String s = string.substring(string.length()-Math.abs(from));
        if(to >= s.length()){
        return s;   
        }
        return s.substring(0,to);
    }else{
        String s = string.substring(Math.abs(from));
        if(to >= s.length()){
            return s;
        }else{
            return s.substring(0, Math.abs(to));
        }

    }

}

Output: am not lonely

Answer 1

It's relatively easy to calculate this yourself, but if you want handy methods for this sort of thing, consider using Apache StringUtils.