How to convert "2012-03-04 00:00:00.0" to Date with Format "dd-mm-yyyy HH:mm:ss" Using Java

Question

I have a date format that I am getting from the database and is a String type. It has a value stored that is like "2012-03-04 00:00:00.0" but I have declared a SimpleDateFormat as "dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss" which is needed in my project. Now whenever I am retrieving some data alsong with date from database I get a parse Exception with the log as below.

java.text.ParseException: Unparseable date: "2012-03-04 00:00:00.0" at java.text.DateFormat.parse(Unknown Source) at com.tcs.tool.iris.aep.selfProfile.dao.AepSelfProfileDaoImpl$1.setValues(AepSelfProfileDaoImpl.java:1188) at org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate$4.doInPreparedStatement(JdbcTemplate.java:892) at org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate$4.doInPreparedStatement(JdbcTemplate.java:1) at org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate.execute(JdbcTemplate.java:586) at org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate.execute(JdbcTemplate.java:614) at org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate.batchUpdate(JdbcTemplate.java:883) at com.tcs.tool.iris.aep.selfProfile.dao.AepSelfProfileDaoImpl.insertDataIntoActionItems(AepSelfProfileDaoImpl.java:1174) at com.tcs.tool.iris.aep.selfProfile.service.AepSelfProfileServiceImpl.insertDataIntoActionItems(AepSelfProfileServiceImpl.java:214) at com.tcs.tool.iris.aep.selfProfile.controller.UpdateProgressController.onSubmit(UpdateProgressController.java:48) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.SimpleFormController.processFormSubmission(SimpleFormController.java:272) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.AbstractFormController.handleInvalidSubmit(AbstractFormController.java:675) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.AbstractFormController.handleRequestInternal(AbstractFormController.java:275) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.AbstractController.handleRequest(AbstractController.java:153) at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.SimpleControllerHandlerAdapter.handle(SimpleControllerHandlerAdapter.java:48) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:790) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:719) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:644) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:560) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:637) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:290) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:233) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:191) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:127) at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:102) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:109) at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:298) at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:857) at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11Protocol.java:588) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$Worker.run(JIoEndpoint.java:489) at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Please help me to figure out whats wrong with this. And how to convert it into the correct format.

The code snippet where I get the exception is as follows:-

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(
                                "dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
                        Calendar currenttime = Calendar.getInstance();
                        java.util.Date currentdate = currenttime.getTime();
                        String currentDateInsert = sdf.format(currentdate);
                        CommentNActionItem commentAndAction = commentActionItem
                                .get(i);
                        java.util.Date datefromDb = null;
                        try {
                            @SuppressWarnings("unused")
                            Date dateF=sdf.parse(commentAndAction.getCreatedDate());
                            datefromDb = (java.sql.Date)sdf.parseObject(commentAndAction.getCreatedDate());
                        } catch (Exception e1) {
                            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                            e1.printStackTrace();

}

Answer 1

The process of converting date strings is rather straightforward. You define the input format, use it to parse the original string, then define the output format, and use that to convert it back to a string.

I have the impression that you are trying to shortcut this, by reusing the same format for parsing and output? Use two formats, then!

// Convert input string into a date
DateFormat inputFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.S");
Date date = inputFormat.parse(inputString);

// Format date into output format
DateFormat outputFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
String outputString = outputFormat.format(date);

Answer 2

The year is at first place and you need to parse the millisecond part. I've extended the answer to show a simple dateformat conversion:

    SimpleDateFormat in = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS");
    SimpleDateFormat out = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yy HH:mm:ss");

    Date date = in.parse("2012-03-04 11:09:00.123");
    String result = out.format(date);
    System.out.println(result);