Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import org.w3c.dom.Element; import java.text.DateFormat; import java.text.ParseException; import java.util.Date; public class Main { public static Date readDate(Element e, String attributeName, DateFormat format) throws ParseException { String dateStr = readAttributeValue(e, attributeName); return format.parse(dateStr); } public static String readAttributeValue(Element e, String attributeName) { if (!e.hasAttribute(attributeName)) { throw new IllegalStateException("Attribute '" + attributeName + "' is absent"); } return e.getAttribute(attributeName); } public static String readAttributeValue(Element e, String attributeName, String defaultValue) { if (e.hasAttribute(attributeName)) { return e.getAttribute(attributeName); } else { return defaultValue; } } }