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.

Answer 1

Try doing this

DF.setLenient(false);

javadoc reference

Answer 2

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.