DateFormat

DateFormat

java.text

---

Java 1.1

cloneable serializable

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.DateFormat

 public 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  ;   } 

Subclasses

SimpleDateFormat