Here you can find the source of format()
public static String format()
//package com.java2s; import java.text.ParseException; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Date; public class Main { private static SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"); public static String format() { Date date = new Date(); return dateFormat.format(date); }// ww w .j av a2s .c om public static String format(String datestr) { Date date; try { date = dateFormat.parse(datestr); } catch (ParseException e) { date = new Date(); } return dateFormat.format(date); } }