Parsing String to Date error

Question

Why is this not working? I'm parsing a String using the SimpleDateFormat, but this is producing an error on the line inside the try {}.

String timerDate = "28 05:24:50"; // timer will stop when reached this date

public String getTimer() {
    SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("dd HH:mm:ss");

    Date currentDate = Calendar.getInstance().getTime();
    Date stopDate = null;
    try {
        stopDate = format.parse(timerDate);
    } catch (ParseException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        return "";
    }

(there is more code proceeding it but it's irrelevant. It cannot parse.

Exception Message:

java.lang.NullPointerException
    at java.text.SimpleDateFormat.parse(Unknown Source) ~[?:1.8.0_121]
    at java.text.DateFormat.parse(Unknown Source) ~[?:1.8.0_121]
    at com.thefuzzyhead.octopia.util.general.MOTDManager.getTimer(MOTDManager.java:98) ~[?:?]
    at com.thefuzzyhead.octopia.util.general.MOTDManager.<init>(MOTDManager.java:22) ~[?:?]
    at com.thefuzzyhead.octopia.Main.onEnable(Main.java:37) ~[?:?]
    at org.bukkit.plugin.java.JavaPlugin.setEnabled(JavaPlugin.java:321) ~[spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at org.bukkit.plugin.java.JavaPluginLoader.enablePlugin(JavaPluginLoader.java:335) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at org.bukkit.plugin.SimplePluginManager.enablePlugin(SimplePluginManager.java:405) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at org.bukkit.craftbukkit.v1_8_R1.CraftServer.loadPlugin(CraftServer.java:356) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at org.bukkit.craftbukkit.v1_8_R1.CraftServer.enablePlugins(CraftServer.java:316) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at net.minecraft.server.v1_8_R1.MinecraftServer.q(MinecraftServer.java:402) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at net.minecraft.server.v1_8_R1.MinecraftServer.k(MinecraftServer.java:370) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at net.minecraft.server.v1_8_R1.MinecraftServer.a(MinecraftServer.java:325) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at net.minecraft.server.v1_8_R1.DedicatedServer.init(DedicatedServer.java:211) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at net.minecraft.server.v1_8_R1.MinecraftServer.run(MinecraftServer.java:505) [spigot-1.8.jar:git-Spigot-eb87f2b-ee6d0fa]
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source) [?:1.8.0_121]

https://hastebin.com/agetuporus.css MOTDManager being the class, and line 98 being inside the try. — Stephen, Feb 24 '17 at 18:34
timerDate is most probably null, and not the string you claim it contains. Use your debugger. http://ideone.com/4i4WEz — JB Nizet, Feb 24 '17 at 18:37

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 24 '17 at 18:37

0

Your problem is that timerDate has not been set before parse() is called.

Make sure that timerDate is initialized before you parse, or guard against it being null.

answered Feb 24 '17 at 18:37

Silas Reinagel

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Parsing String to Date error

1 Answers1