SimpleDateFormat ParseException : Unparseable date

Question

I'm trying to execute this code:

Date date = null;
if (detailsBean.getDiscoveryProjectBean ().getCreatedDate ()==null || 
    detailsBean.getDiscoveryProjectBean ().getCreatedDate ().equalsIgnoreCase(""))
{
    projectDetails.getDiscoveryProject().setCreationTime(new Date());
}
else
{
    try 
    {
        date = new SimpleDateFormat (FormatUtils.simpleFormat).
            parse (detailsBean.getDiscoveryProjectBean ().getCreatedDate ());
    } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new PanDaApplicationException (e.getMessage ());
    }
    projectDetails.getDiscoveryProject().setCreationTime(date);
}

in the try block a ParseException exception is thrown. I don't know the cause of that as the code seems fine, however. the definition of the FormatUtils.simpleFormat is public static final String simpleFormat = "dd-MMM-yyyy" and detailsBean.getDiscoveryProjectBean().getCreatedDate() have value like 28-Feb-2013

I really don't have any clues why this exception is thrown and I need help.

A value like "28-Feb-2013" or exactly that? And what's your default locale? — Jon Skeet
– Jon Skeet, Commented Mar 3, 2013 at 9:23
I suppose your default local is not English you have to change it to en — Mike
– Mike, Commented Mar 3, 2013 at 9:25
Exception message should contain date string the parser failed to parse. Could you please show us exception message? — Mikhail Vladimirov
– Mikhail Vladimirov, Commented Mar 3, 2013 at 9:25
Thanks guys, yes I needed to add locale.US, I think that someone in my team changed it. — Muhammad Bekette
– Muhammad Bekette, Commented Mar 3, 2013 at 15:12

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-03 09:26:46Z

4

My guess is that the problem is the way that SimpleDateFormat uses your default locale - if your locale doesn't use "Feb" as an abbreviated month name, you'll have problems. So if all your data is actually in English, you might want:

DateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat(FormatUtils.simpleFormat, Locale.US);
format.setTimeZone(...); // See below
date = format.parse(detailsBean.getDiscoveryProjectBean().getCreatedDate());

Note the part about setting the time zone. Again, SimpleDateFormat will use your system default if you don't specify anything else. (You'll get the instant of "midnight in the specified time zone" as the Date value.)

I would also strongly urge you to consider using Joda Time instead of the built-in Date/Calendar types - it's a much better date/time API.

answered Mar 3, 2013 at 9:26

Jon Skeet

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Mikhail Vladimirov · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-03 09:27:44Z

3

Locale.setDefault (Locale.ROOT);
System.out.println (new SimpleDateFormat ("dd-MMM-yyyy").parse ("28-Feb-2013"));
Locale.setDefault (Locale.forLanguageTag ("ru"));
System.out.println (new SimpleDateFormat ("dd-MMM-yyyy").parse ("28-Feb-2013"));

For me output is:

Thu Feb 28 00:00:00 MSK 2013
Exception in thread "main" java.text.ParseException: Unparseable date: "28-Feb-2013"
    at java.text.DateFormat.parse(DateFormat.java:357)
    at DateFormat.main(DateFormat.java:19)

So the same date successfully parsed with ROOT locale, but failed with Russian.

answered Mar 3, 2013 at 9:27

Mikhail Vladimirov

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3 Comments

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

It's generally a much better idea (IMO) to just specify the locale for the particular SimpleDateFormat, rather than change the default.

Mikhail Vladimirov Over a year ago

@JonSkeet I just demonstrated how improper default locale can cause such exception. Of cause there are several ways how to fix this.

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

The trouble is, when you only mention one of these, it's reasonable for the OP to infer that you believe that's the best way of doing it.

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