Class DateParser

java.lang.Object

nl.colorize.util.DateParser

public final class DateParser
extends Object

Convenience functions for parsing, formatting, and working with dates. The Date and SimpleDateFormat are often inconvenient to use. For example, SimpleDateFormat is not thread safe, and parsing dates throws a checked exception.

If a date string does not contain an explicit time zone, the default time zone will be used. See Platform.getDefaultTimeZone() for how to configure the default time zone.

Note: The java.time API introduced in Java 8 pretty much solves most of the usability problems with the old date and calendar APIs. However, this class is not deprecated because java.time is only partially available on some platforms and Java implementations.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
static Date	add(Date original, ChronoUnit unit, int amount)	Returns a new date that is created by adding the specified time unit to the original date.
static long	delta(Date a, Date b, ChronoUnit unit)	Returns the difference between two dates, expressed in the specified time unit.
static String	format(Date date, String dateFormat)	Convenience method that wraps around SimpleDateFormat.format and formats a date using the default time zone.
static String	format(Date date, String dateFormat, String timeZone)	Convenience method that wraps around SimpleDateFormat.format and formats a date in the time zone with the specified name.
static String	formatRelative(Date date)	Formats a date relative to the current date, with the precision being decided by the distance between the two dates.
static String	formatRelative(Date date, Date reference)	Formats a date relative to another date, with the precision being decided by the distance between the two dates.
static Date	max(Date a, Date b)
static Date	min(Date a, Date b)
static Date	parse(String input)	Parses a date while attempting to automatically detect the date format for the specified input string.
static Date	parse(String input, String dateFormat)	Wrapper around SimpleDateFormat.parse to parse a date using the specified date format in a thread-safe way.
static LocalDate	parseLocalDate(String value)	Uses the same logic as parse(String), but returns the result as a LocalDate in the default time zone.
static LocalDateTime	parseLocalDateTime(String value)	Uses the same logic as parse(String), but returns the result as a LocalDateTime in the default time zone.
static LocalDate	toLocalDate(Date date)	Returns a LocalDate based on the specified value, in the default time zone as specified by Platform.getDefaultTimeZoneId().
static LocalDateTime	toLocalDateTime(Date date)	Returns a LocalDateTime based on the specified value, in the default time zone as specified by Platform.getDefaultTimeZoneId().
static Optional<Date>	tryParse(String input, String dateFormat)	Wrapper around SimpleDateFormat.parse to parse a date using the specified date format in a thread-safe way.

Methods inherited from class Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Details

tryParse

public static Optional<Date> tryParse(String input,
 String dateFormat)

Wrapper around SimpleDateFormat.parse to parse a date using the specified date format in a thread-safe way.

parse

public static Date parse(String input,
 String dateFormat)

Wrapper around SimpleDateFormat.parse to parse a date using the specified date format in a thread-safe way.

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if the specified input string does not follow the date format.

parse

public static Date parse(String input)

Parses a date while attempting to automatically detect the date format for the specified input string.

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if the input string does not confirm to any of the date formats supported by this method.

parseLocalDate

public static LocalDate parseLocalDate(String value)

Uses the same logic as parse(String), but returns the result as a LocalDate in the default time zone.

parseLocalDateTime

public static LocalDateTime parseLocalDateTime(String value)

Uses the same logic as parse(String), but returns the result as a LocalDateTime in the default time zone.

format

public static String format(Date date,
 String dateFormat)

Convenience method that wraps around SimpleDateFormat.format and formats a date using the default time zone.

format

public static String format(Date date,
 String dateFormat,
 String timeZone)

Convenience method that wraps around SimpleDateFormat.format and formats a date in the time zone with the specified name.

add

public static Date add(Date original,
 ChronoUnit unit,
 int amount)

Returns a new date that is created by adding the specified time unit to the original date. The amount can be negative, which will return a date that is before the original.

This method supports the following time units:

• ChronoUnit.SECONDS
• ChronoUnit.MINUTES
• ChronoUnit.HOURS
• ChronoUnit.DAYS
• ChronoUnit.WEEKS
• ChronoUnit.MONTHS
• ChronoUnit.YEARS

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if the provided time unit is not in the list of supported time units.

min

public static Date min(Date a,
 Date b)

max

public static Date max(Date a,
 Date b)

delta

public static long delta(Date a,
 Date b,
 ChronoUnit unit)

Returns the difference between two dates, expressed in the specified time unit. The difference is absolute, so it doesn't matter whether the first or second argument is more recent. The value is rounded, so a delta of 11 days with a unit of weeks will return 2.

formatRelative

public static String formatRelative(Date date,
 Date reference)

Formats a date relative to another date, with the precision being decided by the distance between the two dates. Examples of returned values are "2 hours ago", "yesterday", and "3 weeks ago".

formatRelative

public static String formatRelative(Date date)

Formats a date relative to the current date, with the precision being decided by the distance between the two dates. Examples of returned values are "2 hours ago", "yesterday", and "3 weeks ago".

toLocalDate

public static LocalDate toLocalDate(Date date)

Returns a LocalDate based on the specified value, in the default time zone as specified by Platform.getDefaultTimeZoneId().

toLocalDateTime

public static LocalDateTime toLocalDateTime(Date date)

Returns a LocalDateTime based on the specified value, in the default time zone as specified by Platform.getDefaultTimeZoneId().