Calendar class in Java, ParseException

Question

So, I'm experimenting with the Calendar class in Java, and I'm writing a method which returns a Calendar object.

What I want for said method is to return a Calendar object containing "Sun Feb 09 22:49:36 +0000 2014".

Now I'm (debatably) not lazy and I have done some work on my method.

    Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();

    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(
            "EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss Z yyyy");
    try {
        cal.setTime(sdf.parse("Sun Feb 09 22:49:36 +0000 2014"));
    } catch (ParseException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

    return cal;

The problem is it keeps telling me that I got a ParseException, that it's an "Unparseable date".

I thought my logic was pretty correct, but I'm starting to doubt it.

I'd prefer it without importing any more than Calendar, but SimpleDateFormat seems to be pretty handy too.

The less imports the better, I always say.

Anyone see how what I want can be achieved?

EDIT 1

Tried to run the code in a main method and just print out the result, with no difference in Exception.

The following is my main:

import java.text.ParseException;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;


public class TestingMyCalendar {

public static void main(String[] args) {

    Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();

    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(
            "EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss Z yyyy");
    try {
        cal.setTime(sdf.parse("Sun Feb 09 22:49:36 +0000 2014"));
    } catch (ParseException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

    System.out.println(cal);

}
}

For those interested, the following is my entire console text after the main crashed:

java.text.ParseException: Unparseable date: "Sun Feb 09 22:49:36 +0000 2014"
at java.text.DateFormat.parse(Unknown Source)
at TestingMyCalendar.main(TestingMyCalendar.java:15)
java.util.GregorianCalendar[time=1391987659892,areFieldsSet=true,areAllFieldsSet=true,lenient=true,zone=sun.util.calendar.ZoneInfo[id="Europe/Berlin",offset=3600000,dstSavings=3600000,useDaylight=true,transitions=143,lastRule=java.util.SimpleTimeZone[id=Europe/Berlin,offset=3600000,dstSavings=3600000,useDaylight=true,startYear=0,startMode=2,startMonth=2,startDay=-1,startDayOfWeek=1,startTime=3600000,startTimeMode=2,endMode=2,endMonth=9,endDay=-1,endDayOfWeek=1,endTime=3600000,endTimeMode=2]],firstDayOfWeek=2,minimalDaysInFirstWeek=4,ERA=1,YEAR=2014,MONTH=1,WEEK_OF_YEAR=7,WEEK_OF_MONTH=2,DAY_OF_MONTH=10,DAY_OF_YEAR=41,DAY_OF_WEEK=2,DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH=2,AM_PM=0,HOUR=0,HOUR_OF_DAY=0,MINUTE=14,SECOND=19,MILLISECOND=892,ZONE_OFFSET=3600000,DST_OFFSET=0]

Answer 1

You may need to set your default locale to Locale.ENGLISH, otherwise the parser might choke on the Sun for Sunday.

Try:

   Locale.setDefault(Locale.ENGLISH); 

Or, specify it as part of the constructor call:

    SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(
        "EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss Z yyyy", Locale.ENGLISH);

Answer 2

Your stacktrace indicates Europe/Berlin as the timezone suggests that you are using a German Locale. The day or month fields may not match those from your default locale, Try

SimpleDateFormat sdf = 
          new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss Z yyyy", Locale.ENGLISH);