This class formats and parses dates and times in a locale-specific way. As an abstract class, it cannot be instantiated directly, but it provides a number of static methods that return instances of a concrete subclass you can use to format dates in a variety of ways. The getdateInstance( ) methods return a DateFormat object suitable for formatting dates in either the default locale or a specified locale. A formatting style may also optionally be specified; the constants FULL , LONG , MEDIUM , SHORT , and DEFAULT specify this style. Similarly, the getTimeInstance( ) methods return a DateFormat object that formats and parses times, and the geTDateTimeInstance( ) methods return a DateFormat object that formats both dates and times. These methods also optionally take a format style constant and a Locale . Finally, getInstance( ) returns a default DateFormat object that formats both dates and times in the SHORT format. Once you have created a DateFormat object, you can use the setCalendar( ) and setTimeZone( ) methods if you want to format the date using a calendar or time zone other than the default. The various format( ) methods convert java.util.Date objects to strings using whatever format is encapsulated in the DateFormat object. The parse( ) and parseObject( ) methods perform the reverse operation; they parse a string formatted according to the rules of the DateFormat object and convert it into to a Date object. The DEFAULT , FULL , MEDIUM , LONG , and SHORT constants specify how verbose or compact the formatted date or time should be. The remaining constants, which all end with _FIELD , specify various fields of formatted dates and times and are used with the FieldPosition object that is optionally passed to format( ) . Figure 15-7. java.text.DateFormatpublic abstract class DateFormat extends Format { // Protected Constructors protected DateFormat ( ); // Public Constants public static final int AM_PM_FIELD ; =14 public static final int DATE_FIELD ; =3 public static final int DAY_OF_WEEK_FIELD ; =9 public static final int DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH_FIELD ; =11 public static final int DAY_OF_YEAR_FIELD ; =10 public static final int DEFAULT ; =2 public static final int ERA_FIELD ; =0 public static final int FULL ; =0 public static final int HOUR0_FIELD ; =16 public static final int HOUR1_FIELD ; =15 public static final int HOUR_OF_DAY0_FIELD ; =5 public static final int HOUR_OF_DAY1_FIELD ; =4 public static final int LONG ; =1 public static final int MEDIUM ; =2 public static final int MILLISECOND_FIELD ; =8 public static final int MINUTE_FIELD ; =6 public static final int MONTH_FIELD ; =2 public static final int SECOND_FIELD ; =7 public static final int SHORT ; =3 public static final int TIMEZONE_FIELD ; =17 public static final int WEEK_OF_MONTH_FIELD ; =13 public static final int WEEK_OF_YEAR_FIELD ; =12 public static final int YEAR_FIELD ; =1 // Nested Types 1.4 public static class Field extends Format.Field; // Public Class Methods public static java.util.Locale[ ] getAvailableLocales ( ); public static final DateFormat getDateInstance ( ); public static final DateFormat getDateInstance (int style ); public static final DateFormat getDateInstance (int style , java.util.Locale aLocale ); public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance ( ); public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance (int dateStyle , int timeStyle ); public static final DateFormat getDateTimeInstance (int dateStyle , int timeStyle , java.util.Locale aLocale ); public static final DateFormat getInstance ( ); public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance ( ); public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance (int style ); public static final DateFormat getTimeInstance (int style , java.util.Locale aLocale ); // Public Instance Methods public final String format (java.util.Date date ); public abstract StringBuffer format (java.util.Date date , StringBuffer toAppendTo , FieldPosition fieldPosition ); public java.util.Calendar getCalendar ( ); public NumberFormat getNumberFormat ( ); public java.util.TimeZone getTimeZone ( ); public boolean isLenient ( ); public java.util.Date parse (String source ) throws ParseException; public abstract java.util.Date parse (String source , ParsePosition pos ); public void setCalendar (java.util.Calendar newCalendar ); public void setLenient (boolean lenient ); public void setNumberFormat (NumberFormat newNumberFormat ); public void setTimeZone (java.util.TimeZone zone ); // Public Methods Overriding Format public Object clone ( ); public final StringBuffer format (Object obj , StringBuffer toAppendTo , FieldPosition fieldPosition ); public Object parseObject (String source , ParsePosition pos ); // Public Methods Overriding Object public boolean equals (Object obj ); public int hashCode ( ); // Protected Instance Fields protected java.util.Calendar calendar ; protected NumberFormat numberFormat ; } SubclassesSimpleDateFormat |