How can a DateFormat parse an exact date in java (like DateTime.ParseExact in .NET)?

Question

This question is raised by the following code:

DateFormat DF = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd");
String dateString = "20110133";
System.out.println(DF.parse(dateString));
// Wed Feb 02 00:00:00 CET 2011

The parse method transformed Jan 33 to Feb 02. Is there a way to throw an Exception if the dateString does not represent a real date?

Just like DateTime.ParseExact in .NET.

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 06 '11 at 14:15

9

Try doing this

DF.setLenient(false);

javadoc reference

answered Jul 06 '11 at 14:15

Bala R

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It's not perfect and won't work in all instances, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13088140/java-how-to-parse-a-date-strictly – rboy Jul 31 '18 at 19:16

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 06 '11 at 14:16

4

You can use the setLenient(boolean) method of the DateFormat class to tell it not to be lenient (i.e. accept and then convert) with dates that aren't valid.

answered Jul 06 '11 at 14:16

Anthony Grist

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Will not always work, see this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13088140/java-how-to-parse-a-date-strictly – rboy Jul 31 '18 at 19:17

How can a DateFormat parse an exact date in java (like DateTime.ParseExact in .NET)?

2 Answers2