Converting String to Date object

Question

Am trying to store a date object in Android.I want to get the date as a String from EditText and then "convert" or should i say store it as a Date object.This is what i have done.

I have a TextField

`EditText dateOfBirthTextField = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.DoBTextField);`

and then a String

`String dateOfBirth = dateOfBirthTextField.getText().toString();`

Now i have a Student class that has a dateOfBirth field of type Date and a method

`setDateOfBirth(Date dob){
 this.dateOfBirth=dob;
 }

How do i set the value of dateOfBirth with what ever is entered into dateOfBirthTextField?

Why don't you use a [DatePicker](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/DatePicker.html) instead of over-complicating with an `EditText`? The user experience is enriched and your life is easier! — gunar, Feb 04 '14 at 22:02
This is a duplicate of this question http://stackoverflow.com/questions/999172/how-to-parse-a-date — jeff_kile, Feb 04 '14 at 22:03
@gunar am just working on something little with this.I just gave `DatePicker` a look and i think it makes more sense. — Ojonugwa Jude Ochalifu, Feb 04 '14 at 22:19
Remember SimpleDateFormat construction is expensive, many had performance issue with it. And secondly it is not Thread Safe so use wisely! in your case I would go with DatePicker if UI allow. — Prakash, Feb 04 '14 at 22:27

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:01

3

Date date = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy/MM/dd").parse (yourStringDate);

then call

setDateOfBirth(date);

You can provide your custom format to constructor.

Take a look at SimpleDateFormat javadoc: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html

answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:01

gipinani

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the native sqllite database only supports string so you'll probably be saving a string. So once its validated as a date save the data in the format @mserioli has provided. – danny117 Feb 04 '14 at 22:05
Possibly @mserioli its an ORM (I had to look ORM up) – danny117 Feb 04 '14 at 22:12

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:02

1

this.dateOfBirth = new SimpleDateFormat("MMMM d, yyyy", Locale.ENGLISH).parse(dateOfBirthTextField);

answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:02

wawek

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:02

1

String dateOfBirth = dateOfBirthTextField.getText().toString();
SimpleDateFormat s=new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy"); // use your pattern here
Date d = s.parse(dateOfBirth);

answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:02

elbuild

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:04

1

You can do sthg like that;

 String str = "26/08/1994";
 SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");                         
 Date date = formatter.parse(str);

please notice the capital M.

answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:04

Semih Eker

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:04

1

click here to see an example by mkyong

answered Feb 04 '14 at 22:04

Mohsin AR

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score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Feb 04 '14 at 22:29

I'm assuming you meant to declare a string dateOfBirthString and a date dateOfBirth. You just convert the string to a date with a SimpleDateFormat.

It should be something like this:

EditText dateOfBirthTextField = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.DoBTextField);
String dateOfBirthString = dateOfBirthTextField.getText().toString();
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy"); //you have to enter the format of your string, here "dd/MM/yyyy" = "day/month/year"
Date dateOfBirth = sdt.parse(dateOfBirthString);
setDateOfBirth(dateOfBirth);

Converting String to Date object

6 Answers6