Thread: Parsing a full date/time/timezone date to "yyyy-MM-dd"

When I use getDate() on my JDateChooser I get something like:

Fri Nov 02 23:20:32 EST 2012

I've tried using SimpleDateFormat but I can't figure out how to turn the above date into something like: "2012-11-02"

I've tried using google to find the answer but couldn't find anything that solved this problem. The documentation for this JDateChooser is not clear on how to override what format the getDate() method spits out so I'm left with trying to parse what it gives me.

This is the API of the JDateChooser I'm using: JDateChooser (JCalendar API)

I'd appreciate it if anyone could clue me in on Date parsing.

I've tried using SimpleDateFormat but I can't figure out how to turn the above date into something like: "2012-11-02"

Post what you tried so we have a starting point.

I've tried using google to find the answer but couldn't find anything that solved this problem.

I promise the answer is there. Have you read the API you posted a link to? ...as in all of it?

Well you could use substrings, but that's more complicated than it needs to be. As the above post says, post your starting point at least.

Originally Posted by Occidentally

When I use getDate() on my JDateChooser I get something like:

Fri Nov 02 23:20:32 EST 2012

No, to be precise that's not exactly what you get. What you are getting is a java.util.Date object, and what you're posting above is the value returned by this object's toString() method. It uses its own default DateFormatter to return this String value.

I've tried using SimpleDateFormat but I can't figure out how to turn the above date into something like: "2012-11-02"

SimpleDateFormat is definitely the way to go. I second all the recommendations above -- please show us what you've tried as you're probably just making a small mistake that is preventing you from achieving success. With a little nudge in the right direction, I'll bet that you'll solve this and gain a better understanding of how SimpleDateFormat works.