Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import java.text.ParseException; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; public class Main { public static final SimpleDateFormat fmtDate = new SimpleDateFormat("dd.mm.yyyy"); public static final SimpleDateFormat fmtTimeStamp = new SimpleDateFormat("dd.mm.yyyy HH:mm:ss"); public static final SimpleDateFormat fmtTime = new SimpleDateFormat("HH:mm:ss"); private static java.util.Date getParsedDate(String type, String parseAs, String value) throws ParseException { String format = type; if (parseAs != null && parseAs.trim().length() > 0) { format = parseAs; } if (format.equalsIgnoreCase("date")) { return fmtDate.parse(value); } else if (format.equalsIgnoreCase("time")) { return fmtTime.parse(value); } else if (format.equalsIgnoreCase("timestamp")) { return fmtTimeStamp.parse(value); } return null; } }