java.text.ParseException: Unparseable date: "Thu Jan 19 2012 08:00 PM"

Question

I would like to parse a date. My String date is "Thu Jan 19 2012 08:00 PM". And my code to parse is:

format = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd yyyy hh:mm aaa");
this.settDate(new Timestamp((format.parse(sDate)).getTime()));

However, it does not work. How could I parse this date?

Complete method is:

public void saveTask(int iDevice, String description, String sDate) throws ParseException {
    format = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd yyyy hh:mm aaa");
    this.setiDeviceId(iDevice);
    this.setsDescription(description);
    this.settDate(new Timestamp((format.parse(sDate)).getTime()));
    DatabaseManager.save(this);
}

And exception:

java.text.ParseException: Unparseable date: "Thu Jan 19 2012 01:00 AM"

Debug picture:

Thanks!

Answer 1

Try below code... Tested and worked

    String dateStr = "Thu Jan 19 2012 01:00 PM";
    DateFormat readFormat = new SimpleDateFormat( "EEE MMM dd yyyy hh:mm aaa");

    DateFormat writeFormat = new SimpleDateFormat( "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
    Date date = null;
    try {
       date = readFormat.parse( dateStr );
    } catch ( ParseException e ) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

    String formattedDate = "";
    if( date != null ) {
    formattedDate = writeFormat.format( date );
    }

    System.out.println(formattedDate);

Output is 2012-01-19 13:00:00

Cheers!!! Happy to help!!!

Answer 2

Try setting a Locale such as US in this case:

SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd yyyy hh:mm aaa",Locale.US);
format.parse("Thu Jan 19 2012 08:00 PM");

Answer 3

What is your default locale? Since the date string is in English, try parsing it with the US locale:

DateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd yyyy hh:mm a", Locale.US);