Doubt in SimpleDateFormat

[vinodh rmahen]

Hi

Here is the requirement "how to convert a string into date without changing its format"
When i tried to do this using SimpleDateFormat :
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
Date date = formatter.parse(str);

Output
String 26/08/1994 gets parsed as Fri Aug 26 00:00:00 IST 1994.
The format gets changed is it possible to preserve the format?

Thanks in advance

[Bear Bibeault]

"vinodh rm", Welcome to the Ranch. Please check your private messages for an important administrative matter.

[Rob Spoor]

A Date object has no notion of formatting. Sure you can print it, but that is only informational. All a Date object is is a representation of a moment in time.
You should always use DateFormat and its subclasses to both parse and format Date objects.

[vinodh rmahen]

Thanks for the reply, apologize for the confusion, let me refine the question.
I want to know if its possible to display the date object in the same way as the String which contains the date, say for ex:
Consider the string 26/08/1994 is it possible to display a date object in this fashion?
A sample code will be very helpful, thanks.

[Rob Spoor]

Sure, just reuse your formatter object:

SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
Date date = formatter.parse(str);
...
String dateString = formatter.format(date); // returns 26/08/1994

This may require that you'll need to retain a reference to the (Simple)DateFormat object (as a private field) if you need it in multiple methods.

[vinodh rmahen]

Thanks for clarifying.