get/set for Date fields using Apache Beanutils

[Pat Farrell]

I'm using the Apache Beanutils code to populate my Bean's fields, and it works great for String valued fields.

But I can't figure out how to use it for the Date type fields.

Google shows links to something called DateLocaleConverter
but I can't find any examples of how it is used.

My code uses Beanutils with:

rMap = ctx.getRequest().getParameterMap();
BeanUtils.populate(this, rMap);

I have no idea what to do to work with a Date field such as

private Date dueDate;
public void setDueDate(xxx);
public xxx getDueDate();

Pointers greatly appreciated.

[Bear Bibeault]

Heh heh... adding something to FrontMan 2.0 along these lines.

Here's a sneak peek. It's a work in progress so it's still rough around the edge.

Taken from a class that will do automatic param processing....

  public static final String DATE_PATTERN = "M/d/y";

    static {
      ConvertUtils.register(
          new Converter() {
            @Override
            public Object convert(Class targetClass, Object o) {
              String source = String.valueOf(o);
              try {
                return new Date(Long.parseLong(source));
              }
              catch (NumberFormatException e) {
                //eat the exception and try other formats
              }
              try {
                return new SimpleDateFormat(DATE_PATTERN).parse(source);
              }
              catch (ParseException e) {
                //eat exception and let the method return
              }
              return null;
            }
          },
          Date.class);
    }
    

[Pat Farrell]

Bear Bibeault wrote:Heh heh... adding something to FrontMan 2.0 along these lines

So when will 2.0 be ready for beta testing?

And until then, what do I do to debug it.

I'm getting:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Cannot convert 02/13/10 12:00 AM of type class java.lang.String to class java.util.Date

which makes no sense, as it is in the display of a JSP. The date is properly converted to a String, yet Beanutils seems to be trying to re-convert it to Date
I can't see where from the stackdump

[Bear Bibeault]

Pat Farrell wrote:So when will 2.0 be ready for beta testing?

Front Man 2.0 is unfortunately on hold until I finish writing the 2nd edition of jQuery in Action. I'm way behind schedule -- I keep expecting the publisher to send Guido down to break my kneecaps.

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Cannot convert 02/13/10 12:00 AM of type class java.lang.String to class java.util.Date

Where's that coming from? All exceptions should be eaten and it'll just return null if anything boofs up. At least that's the intent... as I said, not well tested yet!

So in a sense, you are already beta testing.

[Pat Farrell]

Bear Bibeault wrote:I keep expecting the publisher to send Guido down to break my kneecaps

That's Uncle Guido for you.

[Bear Bibeault]