File	Doc	Category	Size	Date	Package
DateFormat.java	API Doc	Java SE 5 API	33433	Fri Aug 26 14:57:20 BST 2005	java.text

DateFormat

• java.lang.Object
  • java.text.Format

myString = DateFormat.getDateInstance().format(myDate);

DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateInstance();
for (int i = 0; i < myDate.length; ++i) {
output.println(df.format(myDate[i]) + "; ");
}

DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.LONG, Locale.FRANCE);

myDate = df.parse(myString);

Fields Summary
protected Calendar	calendar The calendar that DateFormat uses to produce the time field values needed to implement date and time formatting. Subclasses should initialize this to a calendar appropriate for the locale associated with this DateFormat.
protected NumberFormat	numberFormat The number formatter that DateFormat uses to format numbers in dates and times. Subclasses should initialize this to a number format appropriate for the locale associated with this DateFormat.
public static final int	ERA_FIELD Useful constant for ERA field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	YEAR_FIELD Useful constant for YEAR field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	MONTH_FIELD Useful constant for MONTH field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	DATE_FIELD Useful constant for DATE field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD Useful constant for one-based HOUR_OF_DAY field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting. HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD is used for the one-based 24-hour clock. For example, 23:59 + 01:00 results in 24:59.
public static final int	HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD Useful constant for zero-based HOUR_OF_DAY field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting. HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD is used for the zero-based 24-hour clock. For example, 23:59 + 01:00 results in 00:59.
public static final int	MINUTE_FIELD Useful constant for MINUTE field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	SECOND_FIELD Useful constant for SECOND field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	MILLISECOND_FIELD Useful constant for MILLISECOND field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	DAY_OF_WEEK_FIELD Useful constant for DAY_OF_WEEK field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	DAY_OF_YEAR_FIELD Useful constant for DAY_OF_YEAR field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH_FIELD Useful constant for DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	WEEK_OF_YEAR_FIELD Useful constant for WEEK_OF_YEAR field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	WEEK_OF_MONTH_FIELD Useful constant for WEEK_OF_MONTH field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	AM_PM_FIELD Useful constant for AM_PM field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
public static final int	HOUR1_FIELD Useful constant for one-based HOUR field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting. HOUR1_FIELD is used for the one-based 12-hour clock. For example, 11:30 PM + 1 hour results in 12:30 AM.
public static final int	HOUR0_FIELD Useful constant for zero-based HOUR field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting. HOUR0_FIELD is used for the zero-based 12-hour clock. For example, 11:30 PM + 1 hour results in 00:30 AM.
public static final int	TIMEZONE_FIELD Useful constant for TIMEZONE field alignment. Used in FieldPosition of date/time formatting.
private static final long	serialVersionUID
public static final int	FULL Constant for full style pattern.
public static final int	LONG Constant for long style pattern.
public static final int	MEDIUM Constant for medium style pattern.
public static final int	SHORT Constant for short style pattern.
public static final int	DEFAULT Constant for default style pattern. Its value is MEDIUM.

Constructors Summary
protected DateFormat() Create a new date format.

Methods Summary
public java.lang.Object	clone() Overrides Cloneable DateFormat other = (DateFormat) super.clone(); other.calendar = (Calendar) calendar.clone(); other.numberFormat = (NumberFormat) numberFormat.clone(); return other;
public boolean	equals(java.lang.Object obj) Overrides equals if (this == obj) return true; if (obj == null || getClass() != obj.getClass()) return false; DateFormat other = (DateFormat) obj; return (// calendar.equivalentTo(other.calendar) // THIS API DOESN'T EXIST YET! calendar.getFirstDayOfWeek() == other.calendar.getFirstDayOfWeek() && calendar.getMinimalDaysInFirstWeek() == other.calendar.getMinimalDaysInFirstWeek() && calendar.isLenient() == other.calendar.isLenient() && calendar.getTimeZone().equals(other.calendar.getTimeZone()) && numberFormat.equals(other.numberFormat));
public final java.lang.StringBuffer	format(java.lang.Object obj, java.lang.StringBuffer toAppendTo, java.text.FieldPosition fieldPosition) Overrides Format. Formats a time object into a time string. Examples of time objects are a time value expressed in milliseconds and a Date object. param obj must be a Number or a Date. param toAppendTo the string buffer for the returning time string. return the formatted time string. param fieldPosition keeps track of the position of the field within the returned string. On input: an alignment field, if desired. On output: the offsets of the alignment field. For example, given a time text "1996.07.10 AD at 15:08:56 PDT", if the given fieldPosition is DateFormat.YEAR_FIELD, the begin index and end index of fieldPosition will be set to 0 and 4, respectively. Notice that if the same time field appears more than once in a pattern, the fieldPosition will be set for the first occurrence of that time field. For instance, formatting a Date to the time string "1 PM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)" using the pattern "h a z (zzzz)" and the alignment field DateFormat.TIMEZONE_FIELD, the begin index and end index of fieldPosition will be set to 5 and 8, respectively, for the first occurrence of the timezone pattern character 'z'. see java.text.Format if (obj instanceof Date) return format( (Date)obj, toAppendTo, fieldPosition ); else if (obj instanceof Number) return format( new Date(((Number)obj).longValue()), toAppendTo, fieldPosition ); else throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot format given Object as a Date");
public abstract java.lang.StringBuffer	format(java.util.Date date, java.lang.StringBuffer toAppendTo, java.text.FieldPosition fieldPosition) Formats a Date into a date/time string. param date a Date to be formatted into a date/time string. param toAppendTo the string buffer for the returning date/time string. param fieldPosition keeps track of the position of the field within the returned string. On input: an alignment field, if desired. On output: the offsets of the alignment field. For example, given a time text "1996.07.10 AD at 15:08:56 PDT", if the given fieldPosition is DateFormat.YEAR_FIELD, the begin index and end index of fieldPosition will be set to 0 and 4, respectively. Notice that if the same time field appears more than once in a pattern, the fieldPosition will be set for the first occurrence of that time field. For instance, formatting a Date to the time string "1 PM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)" using the pattern "h a z (zzzz)" and the alignment field DateFormat.TIMEZONE_FIELD, the begin index and end index of fieldPosition will be set to 5 and 8, respectively, for the first occurrence of the timezone pattern character 'z'. return the formatted date/time string.
public final java.lang.String	format(java.util.Date date) Formats a Date into a date/time string. param date the time value to be formatted into a time string. return the formatted time string. return format(date, new StringBuffer(), DontCareFieldPosition.INSTANCE).toString();
private static java.text.DateFormat	get(int timeStyle, int dateStyle, int flags, java.util.Locale loc) Creates a DateFormat with the given time and/or date style in the given locale. param timeStyle a value from 0 to 3 indicating the time format, ignored if flags is 2 param dateStyle a value from 0 to 3 indicating the time format, ignored if flags is 1 param flags either 1 for a time format, 2 for a date format, or 3 for a date/time format param loc the locale for the format if ((flags & 1) != 0) { if (timeStyle < 0 || timeStyle > 3) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("Illegal time style " + timeStyle); } } else { timeStyle = -1; } if ((flags & 2) != 0) { if (dateStyle < 0 || dateStyle > 3) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("Illegal date style " + dateStyle); } } else { dateStyle = -1; } try { return new SimpleDateFormat(timeStyle, dateStyle, loc); } catch (MissingResourceException e) { return new SimpleDateFormat("M/d/yy h:mm a"); }
public static java.util.Locale[]	getAvailableLocales() Returns an array of all locales for which the get*Instance methods of this class can return localized instances. The array returned must contain at least a Locale instance equal to {@link java.util.Locale#US Locale.US}. return An array of locales for which localized DateFormat instances are available. return LocaleData.getAvailableLocales("DateTimePatterns");
public java.util.Calendar	getCalendar() Gets the calendar associated with this date/time formatter. return the calendar associated with this date/time formatter. return calendar;
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getDateInstance() Gets the date formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale. return a date formatter. return get(0, DEFAULT, 2, Locale.getDefault());
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getDateInstance(int style) Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the default locale. param style the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale. return a date formatter. return get(0, style, 2, Locale.getDefault());
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getDateInstance(int style, java.util.Locale aLocale) Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale. param style the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale. param aLocale the given locale. return a date formatter. return get(0, style, 2, aLocale);
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getDateTimeInstance() Gets the date/time formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale. return a date/time formatter. return get(DEFAULT, DEFAULT, 3, Locale.getDefault());
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle, int timeStyle) Gets the date/time formatter with the given date and time formatting styles for the default locale. param dateStyle the given date formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale. param timeStyle the given time formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale. return a date/time formatter. return get(timeStyle, dateStyle, 3, Locale.getDefault());
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle, int timeStyle, java.util.Locale aLocale) Gets the date/time formatter with the given formatting styles for the given locale. param dateStyle the given date formatting style. param timeStyle the given time formatting style. param aLocale the given locale. return a date/time formatter. return get(timeStyle, dateStyle, 3, aLocale);
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getInstance() Get a default date/time formatter that uses the SHORT style for both the date and the time. return getDateTimeInstance(SHORT, SHORT);
public java.text.NumberFormat	getNumberFormat() Gets the number formatter which this date/time formatter uses to format and parse a time. return the number formatter which this date/time formatter uses. return numberFormat;
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getTimeInstance() Gets the time formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale. return a time formatter. return get(DEFAULT, 0, 1, Locale.getDefault());
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getTimeInstance(int style) Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the default locale. param style the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale. return a time formatter. return get(style, 0, 1, Locale.getDefault());
public static final java.text.DateFormat	getTimeInstance(int style, java.util.Locale aLocale) Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale. param style the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale. param aLocale the given locale. return a time formatter. return get(style, 0, 1, aLocale);
public java.util.TimeZone	getTimeZone() Gets the time zone. return the time zone associated with the calendar of DateFormat. return calendar.getTimeZone();
public int	hashCode() Overrides hashCode return numberFormat.hashCode(); // just enough fields for a reasonable distribution
public boolean	isLenient() Tell whether date/time parsing is to be lenient. return calendar.isLenient();
public java.util.Date	parse(java.lang.String source) Parses text from the beginning of the given string to produce a date. The method may not use the entire text of the given string. See the {@link #parse(String, ParsePosition)} method for more information on date parsing. param source A String whose beginning should be parsed. return A Date parsed from the string. exception ParseException if the beginning of the specified string cannot be parsed. ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0); Date result = parse(source, pos); if (pos.index == 0) throw new ParseException("Unparseable date: \"" + source + "\"" , pos.errorIndex); return result;
public abstract java.util.Date	parse(java.lang.String source, java.text.ParsePosition pos) Parse a date/time string according to the given parse position. For example, a time text "07/10/96 4:5 PM, PDT" will be parsed into a Date that is equivalent to Date(837039928046). By default, parsing is lenient: If the input is not in the form used by this object's format method but can still be parsed as a date, then the parse succeeds. Clients may insist on strict adherence to the format by calling setLenient(false). see java.text.DateFormat#setLenient(boolean) param source The date/time string to be parsed param pos On input, the position at which to start parsing; on output, the position at which parsing terminated, or the start position if the parse failed. return A Date, or null if the input could not be parsed
public java.lang.Object	parseObject(java.lang.String source, java.text.ParsePosition pos) Parses text from a string to produce a Date. The method attempts to parse text starting at the index given by pos. If parsing succeeds, then the index of pos is updated to the index after the last character used (parsing does not necessarily use all characters up to the end of the string), and the parsed date is returned. The updated pos can be used to indicate the starting point for the next call to this method. If an error occurs, then the index of pos is not changed, the error index of pos is set to the index of the character where the error occurred, and null is returned. See the {@link #parse(String, ParsePosition)} method for more information on date parsing. param source A String, part of which should be parsed. param pos A ParsePosition object with index and error index information as described above. return A Date parsed from the string. In case of error, returns null. exception NullPointerException if pos is null. return parse(source, pos);
public void	setCalendar(java.util.Calendar newCalendar) Set the calendar to be used by this date format. Initially, the default calendar for the specified or default locale is used. param newCalendar the new Calendar to be used by the date format this.calendar = newCalendar;
public void	setLenient(boolean lenient) Specify whether or not date/time parsing is to be lenient. With lenient parsing, the parser may use heuristics to interpret inputs that do not precisely match this object's format. With strict parsing, inputs must match this object's format. param lenient when true, parsing is lenient see java.util.Calendar#setLenient calendar.setLenient(lenient);
public void	setNumberFormat(java.text.NumberFormat newNumberFormat) Allows you to set the number formatter. param newNumberFormat the given new NumberFormat. this.numberFormat = newNumberFormat;
public void	setTimeZone(java.util.TimeZone zone) Sets the time zone for the calendar of this DateFormat object. param zone the given new time zone. calendar.setTimeZone(zone);