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I'm storing dates in a database as a single string in the format "2 15 2015" (presumably "M d yyyy"?). strDate in the code below contains the return value of a method that grabs the date. I want to parse the date so as to set a datepicker. Based on the examples in Java string to date conversion

I've created the following code for parsing the date, but am getting an "Unhandled Exception: java.text.ParseException" at 

Date date = format.parse(strDate);

Scratching my head.

Calendar mydate = new GregorianCalendar();
String strDate = datasource.get_Column_StrVal(dbData,
        MySQLiteHelper.dbFields.COLUMN_SPECIAL_DAYS_DATE);
SimpleDateFormat  format = new SimpleDateFormat("M d yyyy", Locale.ENGLISH);
Date date = format.parse(strDate);
mydate.setTime(date);
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E. A. Bagby
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2 Answers2

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You are getting this compile-time error because you are not handling the ParseException that the parse method throws. This is necessary because ParseException is not a runtime exception (it is a checked exception since it extends directly from java.lang.Exception).

You need to surround your code with try/catch to handle the exception, like this :

try {
    SimpleDateFormat  format = new SimpleDateFormat("M d yyyy", Locale.ENGLISH);
    Date date = format.parse(strDate);
    mydate.setTime(date);
} catch (ParseException e) {
    //handle exception
}
Tunaki
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  • That worked. It seems odd that the try catch is required. Do you recommend anything in the "//handle exception" line? – E. A. Bagby Feb 15 '15 at 18:25
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    `ParseException` is a checked exception. You either need to catch it or declare that your method can throw it (using `throws` clause). Handling the exception should answer the question "what should I do if a date is incorrect in DB ?". You probably need to log it at least. – Tunaki Feb 15 '15 at 18:30
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Well, you indeed have it. Just surround it with try/catch as the compiler will hint you.

Michał Szydłowski
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