parsing - converting date to string and back to date in java

Question

In my program I am trying to convert the date to string to specified format and then back to date. I need the date to be in dd-MMM-yy format. So, I am converting the date to dd-MMM-yy format using SimpleDateFormat like,

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MMM-yy");
String bookingDate = sdf.format(myDate);

The result is what I expected, that is 23-May-12 but when I convert the string back to date using parse(), it is changing to Wed May 23 13:16:14 IST 2012.

Is there any way to convert the string back to date without changing format? I strictly need to pass the date object in the specified format to the query.

Answer 1

when i convert the string back to date using parse(), it is changing to Wed May 23 13:16:14 IST 2012.

That is not true, It converts back to Date correctly, When you try to print Date instance, It invokes toString() method and it has fixed formated output so if you want the formatted date you need to use format() method

In short parse method parses the String to Date there is no property of Date which holds format so you need to use format() method anyhow