com.ibm.icu.text

Class DateFormat

Known Direct Subclasses:
SimpleDateFormat

public abstract class DateFormat
extends UFormat

DateFormat is an abstract class for date/time formatting subclasses which formats and parses dates or time in a language-independent manner. The date/time formatting subclass, such as SimpleDateFormat, allows for formatting (i.e., date -> text), parsing (text -> date), and normalization. The date is represented as a Date object or as the milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 GMT.

DateFormat provides many class methods for obtaining default date/time formatters based on the default or a given loacle and a number of formatting styles. The formatting styles include FULL, LONG, MEDIUM, and SHORT. More detail and examples of using these styles are provided in the method descriptions.

DateFormat helps you to format and parse dates for any locale. Your code can be completely independent of the locale conventions for months, days of the week, or even the calendar format: lunar vs. solar.

To format a date for the current Locale, use one of the static factory methods:

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

If you are formatting multiple numbers, it is more efficient to get the format and use it multiple times so that the system doesn't have to fetch the information about the local language and country conventions multiple times.

  DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateInstance();
  for (int i = 0; i <32a.length; ++i) {
    output.println(df.format(myDate[i]) + "; ");
  }
 

To format a number for a different Locale, specify it in the call to getDateInstance().

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

You can use a DateFormat to parse also.

  myDate = df.parse(myString);
 

Use getDateInstance to get the normal date format for that country. There are other static factory methods available. Use getTimeInstance to get the time format for that country. Use getDateTimeInstance to get a date and time format. You can pass in different options to these factory methods to control the length of the result; from SHORT to MEDIUM to LONG to FULL. The exact result depends on the locale, but generally:

You can also set the time zone on the format if you wish. If you want even more control over the format or parsing, (or want to give your users more control), you can try casting the DateFormat you get from the factory methods to a SimpleDateFormat. This will work for the majority of countries; just remember to put it in a try block in case you encounter an unusual one.

You can also use forms of the parse and format methods with ParsePosition and FieldPosition to allow you to

Synchronization

Date formats are not synchronized. It is recommended to create separate format instances for each thread. If multiple threads access a format concurrently, it must be synchronized externally.
Author:
Mark Davis, Chen-Lieh Huang, Alan Liu
See Also:
UFormat, NumberFormat, SimpleDateFormat, Calendar, GregorianCalendar, TimeZone

Field Summary

static int
AM_PM_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'a' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.AM_PM field.
static int
DATE_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'd' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DATE field.
static int
DAY_OF_WEEK_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'E' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK field.
static int
DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'F' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH field.
static int
DAY_OF_YEAR_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'D' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR field.
static int
DEFAULT
Constant for default style pattern.
static int
DOW_LOCAL_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'e' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DOW_LOCAL field.
static int
ERA_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'G' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.ERA field.
static int
EXTENDED_YEAR_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'u' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.EXTENDED_YEAR field.
static int
FIELD_COUNT
Number of FieldPosition selectors for DateFormat.
static int
FRACTIONAL_SECOND_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'S' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.MILLISECOND field.
static int
FULL
Constant for full style pattern.
static int
HOUR0_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'K' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR field.
static int
HOUR1_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'h' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR field.
static int
HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'H' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY field.
static int
HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'k' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY field.
static int
JULIAN_DAY_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'g' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.JULIAN_DAY field.
static int
LONG
Constant for long style pattern.
static int
MEDIUM
Constant for medium style pattern.
static int
MILLISECONDS_IN_DAY_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'A' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.MILLISECONDS_IN_DAY field.
static int
MILLISECOND_FIELD
Deprecated. ICU 3.0 use FRACTIONAL_SECOND_FIELD.
static int
MINUTE_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'm' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.MINUTE field.
static int
MONTH_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'M' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.MONTH field.
static int
SECOND_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 's' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.SECOND field.
static int
SHORT
Constant for short style pattern.
static int
STANDALONE_DAY_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'c' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK field.
static int
STANDALONE_MONTH_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'L' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.MONTH field.
static int
TIMEZONE_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'z' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.ZONE_OFFSET and Calendar.DST_OFFSET fields.
static int
TIMEZONE_GENERIC_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'v' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.ZONE_OFFSET and Calendar.DST_OFFSET fields.
static int
TIMEZONE_RFC_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'Z' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.ZONE_OFFSET and Calendar.DST_OFFSET fields.
static int
WEEK_OF_MONTH_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'W' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.WEEK_OF_MONTH field.
static int
WEEK_OF_YEAR_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'w' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.WEEK_OF_YEAR field.
static int
YEAR_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'y' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.YEAR field.
static int
YEAR_WOY_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'Y' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.YEAR_WOY field.
protected Calendar
calendar
The calendar that DateFormat uses to produce the time field values needed to implement date and time formatting.
protected NumberFormat
numberFormat
The number formatter that DateFormat uses to format numbers in dates and times.

Constructor Summary

DateFormat()
Create a new date format.

Method Summary

Object
clone()
Overrides Cloneable
boolean
equals(Object obj)
Overrides equals
String
format(Date date)
Formats a Date into a date/time string.
StringBuffer
format(Date date, StringBuffer toAppendTo, FieldPosition fieldPosition)
Formats a Date into a date/time string.
StringBuffer
format(Object obj, StringBuffer toAppendTo, FieldPosition fieldPosition)
Overrides Format.
abstract StringBuffer
format(Calendar cal, StringBuffer toAppendTo, FieldPosition fieldPosition)
Formats a date into a date/time string.
static Locale[]
getAvailableLocales()
Gets the set of locales for which DateFormats are installed.
static ULocale[]
getAvailableULocales()
Gets the set of locales for which DateFormats are installed.
Calendar
getCalendar()
Gets the calendar associated with this date/time formatter.
static DateFormat
getDateInstance()
Gets the date formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale.
static DateFormat
getDateInstance(Calendar cal, int dateStyle)
Convenience overload
static DateFormat
getDateInstance(Calendar cal, int dateStyle, Locale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates in the calendar system specified by cal.
static DateFormat
getDateInstance(Calendar cal, int dateStyle, ULocale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates in the calendar system specified by cal.
static DateFormat
getDateInstance(int style)
Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the default locale.
static DateFormat
getDateInstance(int style, Locale aLocale)
Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
static DateFormat
getDateInstance(int style, ULocale locale)
Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance()
Gets the date/time formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale.
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance(Calendar cal, int dateStyle, int timeStyle)
Convenience overload
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance(Calendar cal, int dateStyle, int timeStyle, Locale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates and times in the calendar system specified by cal.
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance(Calendar cal, int dateStyle, int timeStyle, ULocale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates and times in the calendar system specified by cal.
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle, int timeStyle)
Gets the date/time formatter with the given date and time formatting styles for the default locale.
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle, int timeStyle, Locale aLocale)
Gets the date/time formatter with the given formatting styles for the given locale.
static DateFormat
getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle, int timeStyle, ULocale locale)
Gets the date/time formatter with the given formatting styles for the given locale.
static DateFormat
getInstance()
Get a default date/time formatter that uses the SHORT style for both the date and the time.
static DateFormat
getInstance(Calendar cal)
Convenience overload
static DateFormat
getInstance(Calendar cal, Locale locale)
Convenience overload
static DateFormat
getInstance(Calendar cal, ULocale locale)
Convenience overload
NumberFormat
getNumberFormat()
Gets the number formatter which this date/time formatter uses to format and parse a time.
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance()
Gets the time formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale.
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance(Calendar cal, int timeStyle)
Convenience overload
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance(Calendar cal, int timeStyle, Locale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format times in the calendar system specified by cal.
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance(Calendar cal, int timeStyle, ULocale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format times in the calendar system specified by cal.
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance(int style)
Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the default locale.
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance(int style, Locale aLocale)
Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
static DateFormat
getTimeInstance(int style, ULocale locale)
Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
TimeZone
getTimeZone()
Gets the time zone.
int
hashCode()
Overrides hashCode
boolean
isLenient()
Tell whether date/time parsing is to be lenient.
Date
parse(String text)
Parse a date/time string.
Date
parse(String text, ParsePosition pos)
Parse a date/time string according to the given parse position.
abstract void
parse(String text, Calendar cal, ParsePosition pos)
Parse a date/time string according to the given parse position.
Object
parseObject(String source, ParsePosition pos)
Parse a date/time string into an Object.
void
setCalendar(Calendar newCalendar)
Set the calendar to be used by this date format.
void
setLenient(boolean lenient)
Specify whether or not date/time parsing is to be lenient.
void
setNumberFormat(NumberFormat newNumberFormat)
Allows you to set the number formatter.
void
setTimeZone(TimeZone zone)
Sets the time zone for the calendar of this DateFormat object.

Methods inherited from class com.ibm.icu.text.UFormat

getLocale

Field Details

AM_PM_FIELD

public static final int AM_PM_FIELD
Field Value:
14

DATE_FIELD

public static final int DATE_FIELD
Field Value:
3

DAY_OF_WEEK_FIELD

public static final int DAY_OF_WEEK_FIELD
Field Value:
9

DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH_FIELD

public static final int DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH_FIELD
Field Value:
11

DAY_OF_YEAR_FIELD

public static final int DAY_OF_YEAR_FIELD
Field Value:
10

DEFAULT

public static final int DEFAULT
Constant for default style pattern. Its value is MEDIUM.
Field Value:
2

DOW_LOCAL_FIELD

public static final int DOW_LOCAL_FIELD
Field Value:
19

ERA_FIELD

public static final int ERA_FIELD
Field Value:
0

EXTENDED_YEAR_FIELD

public static final int EXTENDED_YEAR_FIELD
Field Value:
20

FIELD_COUNT

public static final int FIELD_COUNT
Number of FieldPosition selectors for DateFormat. Valid selectors range from 0 to FIELD_COUNT-1.
Field Value:
27

FRACTIONAL_SECOND_FIELD

public static final int FRACTIONAL_SECOND_FIELD
Field Value:
8

FULL

public static final int FULL
Constant for full style pattern.
Field Value:
0

HOUR0_FIELD

public static final int HOUR0_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'K' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR field. HOUR0_FIELD is used for the zero-based 12-hour clock. For example, 11:30 PM + 1 hour results in 00:30 AM.
Field Value:
16

HOUR1_FIELD

public static final int HOUR1_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'h' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR field. HOUR1_FIELD is used for the one-based 12-hour clock. For example, 11:30 PM + 1 hour results in 12:30 AM.
Field Value:
15

HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD

public static final int HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'H' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY field. HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD is used for the zero-based 24-hour clock. For example, 23:59 + 01:00 results in 00:59.
Field Value:
5

HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD

public static final int HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'k' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY field. HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD is used for the one-based 24-hour clock. For example, 23:59 + 01:00 results in 24:59.
Field Value:
4

JULIAN_DAY_FIELD

public static final int JULIAN_DAY_FIELD
Field Value:
21

LONG

public static final int LONG
Constant for long style pattern.
Field Value:
1

MEDIUM

public static final int MEDIUM
Constant for medium style pattern.
Field Value:
2

MILLISECONDS_IN_DAY_FIELD

public static final int MILLISECONDS_IN_DAY_FIELD
Field Value:
22

MILLISECOND_FIELD

public static final int MILLISECOND_FIELD

Deprecated. ICU 3.0 use FRACTIONAL_SECOND_FIELD.

Alias for FRACTIONAL_SECOND_FIELD.
Field Value:
8

MINUTE_FIELD

public static final int MINUTE_FIELD
Field Value:
6

MONTH_FIELD

public static final int MONTH_FIELD
Field Value:
2

SECOND_FIELD

public static final int SECOND_FIELD
Field Value:
7

SHORT

public static final int SHORT
Constant for short style pattern.
Field Value:
3

STANDALONE_DAY_FIELD

public static final int STANDALONE_DAY_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'c' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK field. This displays the stand alone day name, if available.
Field Value:
25

STANDALONE_MONTH_FIELD

public static final int STANDALONE_MONTH_FIELD
FieldPosition selector for 'L' field alignment, corresponding to the Calendar.MONTH field. This displays the stand alone month name, if available.
Field Value:
26

TIMEZONE_FIELD

public static final int TIMEZONE_FIELD
Field Value:
17

TIMEZONE_GENERIC_FIELD

public static final int TIMEZONE_GENERIC_FIELD
Field Value:
24

TIMEZONE_RFC_FIELD

public static final int TIMEZONE_RFC_FIELD
Field Value:
23

WEEK_OF_MONTH_FIELD

public static final int WEEK_OF_MONTH_FIELD
Field Value:
13

WEEK_OF_YEAR_FIELD

public static final int WEEK_OF_YEAR_FIELD
Field Value:
12

YEAR_FIELD

public static final int YEAR_FIELD
Field Value:
1

YEAR_WOY_FIELD

public static final int YEAR_WOY_FIELD
Field Value:
18

calendar

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.

numberFormat

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.

Constructor Details

DateFormat

protected DateFormat()
Create a new date format.

Method Details

clone

public Object clone()
Overrides Cloneable

equals

public boolean equals(Object obj)
Overrides equals

format

public final String format(Date date)
Formats a Date into a date/time string.
Parameters:
date - the time value to be formatted into a time string.
Returns:
the formatted time string.

format

public final StringBuffer format(Date date,
                                 StringBuffer toAppendTo,
                                 FieldPosition fieldPosition)
Formats a Date into a date/time string.
Parameters:
date - a Date to be formatted into a date/time string.
toAppendTo - the string buffer for the returning date/time string.
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 occurence 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 occurence of the timezone pattern character 'z'.
Returns:
the formatted date/time string.

format

public final StringBuffer format(Object obj,
                                 StringBuffer toAppendTo,
                                 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.
Parameters:
obj - must be a Number or a Date or a Calendar.
toAppendTo - the string buffer for the returning time string.
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 occurence 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 occurence of the timezone pattern character 'z'.
Returns:
the formatted time string.

format

public abstract StringBuffer format(Calendar cal,
                                    StringBuffer toAppendTo,
                                    FieldPosition fieldPosition)
Formats a date into a date/time string.
Parameters:
cal - a Calendar set to the date and time to be formatted into a date/time string.
toAppendTo - the string buffer for the returning date/time string.
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 occurence 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 occurence of the timezone pattern character 'z'.
Returns:
the formatted date/time string.

getAvailableLocales

public static Locale[] getAvailableLocales()
Gets the set of locales for which DateFormats are installed.
Returns:
the set of locales for which DateFormats are installed.

getAvailableULocales

public static ULocale[] getAvailableULocales()
Gets the set of locales for which DateFormats are installed.
Returns:
the set of locales for which DateFormats are installed.

getCalendar

public Calendar getCalendar()
Gets the calendar associated with this date/time formatter.
Returns:
the calendar associated with this date/time formatter.

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance()
Gets the date formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale.
Returns:
a date formatter.

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance(Calendar cal,
                                               int dateStyle)
Convenience overload

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance(Calendar cal,
                                               int dateStyle,
                                               Locale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates in the calendar system specified by cal.

Parameters:
cal - The calendar system for which a date format is desired.
dateStyle - The type of date format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
locale - The locale for which the date format is desired.

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance(Calendar cal,
                                               int dateStyle,
                                               ULocale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates in the calendar system specified by cal.

Parameters:
cal - The calendar system for which a date format is desired.
dateStyle - The type of date format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
locale - The locale for which the date format is desired.

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance(int style)
Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the default locale.
Parameters:
style - the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale.
Returns:
a date formatter.

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance(int style,
                                               Locale aLocale)
Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
Parameters:
style - the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale.
aLocale - the given locale.
Returns:
a date formatter.

getDateInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateInstance(int style,
                                               ULocale locale)
Gets the date formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
Parameters:
style - the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale.
locale - the given ulocale.
Returns:
a date formatter.

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance()
Gets the date/time formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale.
Returns:
a date/time formatter.

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance(Calendar cal,
                                                   int dateStyle,
                                                   int timeStyle)
Convenience overload

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance(Calendar cal,
                                                   int dateStyle,
                                                   int timeStyle,
                                                   Locale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates and times in the calendar system specified by cal.

Note: When this functionality is moved into the core JDK, this method will probably be replaced by a new overload of DateFormat.getInstance.

Parameters:
cal - The calendar system for which a date/time format is desired.
dateStyle - The type of date format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
timeStyle - The type of time format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
locale - The locale for which the date/time format is desired.
See Also:
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance(Calendar cal,
                                                   int dateStyle,
                                                   int timeStyle,
                                                   ULocale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format dates and times in the calendar system specified by cal.

Note: When this functionality is moved into the core JDK, this method will probably be replaced by a new overload of DateFormat.getInstance.

Parameters:
cal - The calendar system for which a date/time format is desired.
dateStyle - The type of date format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
timeStyle - The type of time format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
locale - The locale for which the date/time format is desired.
See Also:
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle,
                                                   int timeStyle)
Gets the date/time formatter with the given date and time formatting styles for the default locale.
Parameters:
dateStyle - the given date formatting style. For example, SHORT for "M/d/yy" in the US locale.
timeStyle - the given time formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale.
Returns:
a date/time formatter.

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle,
                                                   int timeStyle,
                                                   Locale aLocale)
Gets the date/time formatter with the given formatting styles for the given locale.
Parameters:
dateStyle - the given date formatting style.
timeStyle - the given time formatting style.
aLocale - the given locale.
Returns:
a date/time formatter.

getDateTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance(int dateStyle,
                                                   int timeStyle,
                                                   ULocale locale)
Gets the date/time formatter with the given formatting styles for the given locale.
Parameters:
dateStyle - the given date formatting style.
timeStyle - the given time formatting style.
locale - the given ulocale.
Returns:
a date/time formatter.

getInstance

public static final DateFormat getInstance()
Get a default date/time formatter that uses the SHORT style for both the date and the time.

getInstance

public static final DateFormat getInstance(Calendar cal)
Convenience overload

getInstance

public static final DateFormat getInstance(Calendar cal,
                                           Locale locale)
Convenience overload

getInstance

public static final DateFormat getInstance(Calendar cal,
                                           ULocale locale)
Convenience overload

getNumberFormat

public NumberFormat getNumberFormat()
Gets the number formatter which this date/time formatter uses to format and parse a time.
Returns:
the number formatter which this date/time formatter uses.

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance()
Gets the time formatter with the default formatting style for the default locale.
Returns:
a time formatter.

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance(Calendar cal,
                                               int timeStyle)
Convenience overload

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance(Calendar cal,
                                               int timeStyle,
                                               Locale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format times in the calendar system specified by cal.

Note: When this functionality is moved into the core JDK, this method will probably be replaced by a new overload of DateFormat.getInstance.

Parameters:
cal - The calendar system for which a time format is desired.
timeStyle - The type of time format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
locale - The locale for which the time format is desired.
See Also:
DateFormat.getTimeInstance

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance(Calendar cal,
                                               int timeStyle,
                                               ULocale locale)
Create a DateFormat object that can be used to format times in the calendar system specified by cal.

Note: When this functionality is moved into the core JDK, this method will probably be replaced by a new overload of DateFormat.getInstance.

Parameters:
cal - The calendar system for which a time format is desired.
timeStyle - The type of time format desired. This can be SHORT, MEDIUM, etc.
locale - The locale for which the time format is desired.
See Also:
DateFormat.getTimeInstance

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance(int style)
Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the default locale.
Parameters:
style - the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale.
Returns:
a time formatter.

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance(int style,
                                               Locale aLocale)
Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
Parameters:
style - the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale.
aLocale - the given locale.
Returns:
a time formatter.

getTimeInstance

public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance(int style,
                                               ULocale locale)
Gets the time formatter with the given formatting style for the given locale.
Parameters:
style - the given formatting style. For example, SHORT for "h:mm a" in the US locale.
locale - the given ulocale.
Returns:
a time formatter.

getTimeZone

public TimeZone getTimeZone()
Gets the time zone.
Returns:
the time zone associated with the calendar of DateFormat.

hashCode

public int hashCode()
Overrides hashCode

isLenient

public boolean isLenient()
Tell whether date/time parsing is to be lenient.

parse

public Date parse(String text)
            throws ParseException
Parse a date/time string.
Parameters:
text - The date/time string to be parsed
Returns:
A Date, or null if the input could not be parsed

parse

public final Date parse(String 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).

Parameters:
text - The date/time string to be parsed
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.
Returns:
A Date, or null if the input could not be parsed

parse

public abstract void parse(String text,
                           Calendar cal,
                           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 Calendar that is equivalent to Date(837039928046). The caller should clear the calendar before calling this method, unless existing field information is to be kept.

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).

Parameters:
text - The date/time string to be parsed
cal - The calendar into which parsed data will be stored. In general, this should be cleared before calling this method. If this parse fails, the calendar may still have been modified.
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.

parseObject

public Object parseObject(String source,
                          ParsePosition pos)
Parse a date/time string into an Object. This convenience method simply calls parse(String, ParsePosition).

setCalendar

public void setCalendar(Calendar newCalendar)
Set the calendar to be used by this date format. Initially, the default calendar for the specified or default locale is used.
Parameters:
newCalendar - the new Calendar to be used by the date format

setLenient

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.
Parameters:
lenient - when true, parsing is lenient

setNumberFormat

public void setNumberFormat(NumberFormat newNumberFormat)
Allows you to set the number formatter.
Parameters:
newNumberFormat - the given new NumberFormat.

setTimeZone

public void setTimeZone(TimeZone zone)
Sets the time zone for the calendar of this DateFormat object.
Parameters:
zone - the given new time zone.

Copyright (c) 2006 IBM Corporation and others.