I generally store a date as type java.util.Date and have two sets of getter/setter pairs for each date -- one set that treats it as a String, and the other that treats it as a Date. Here's an example:
This code assumes that the date is being checked for valid format elsewhere in the code. In the JSP, you would then write: <html:text property="formattedBirthDate" /> [ June 29, 2006: Message edited by: Merrill Higginson ]