String to date conversion in java

I have my date in string format and I want to convert it into date format. I also tried toDate(String) function. But it is not giving result. And I also tried following code:

SimpleDateFormat formatter=new SimpleDateFormat(text3);
java.sql.Date effect_from=new java.sql.Date( formatter.parse(text3).getTime());
java.sql.Date end_on = new java.sql.Date(formatter.parse(text3).getTime());


In above code when I try to print 'effect_from'it prints any random date.
So please tell me solution.

Welcome to JavaRanch.

The SimpleDateFormat constructor doesn't take the text to be parsed as argument, it takes the format description as argument. See the javadocs of the SimpleDateFormat class for a lengthy explanation of the available formats.

SimpleDateFomat line is wrong...
instead of passing actuall string to SimpleDateFormat,it should pass the pattern..

eg :-

Please take the time to choose the correct forum for your posts. This forum is for questions on HTML.

This post has been moved to a more appropriate forum.

hi Bear Bibeault ,

i thing this post belongs to correct topic..as string to date conversion comes under "java in general"...

Originally posted by Amit Y Desai:
SimpleDateFomat line is wrong...
instead of passing actuall string to SimpleDateFormat,it should pass the pattern..

eg :-

Note that "mm/dd/yyyy" means most likely not what you think it means. "mm" is minutes, not months. Use "MM" for months. See the API documentation of class SimpleDateFormat for documentation about the format string.

Originally posted by Amit Y Desai:
i thing this post belongs to correct topic..as string to date conversion comes under "java in general"...

It was originally posted in the HTML forum, here, that's why that post is there.

You will see many such messages as unfortunately it's a common phenomenon that people post topics into unrelated forums.

Please find the code in the below URL
http://developerparadise.com/devworld/Faqs/2007/Java/3Collection/JavaCollectionFaqs_3_Integerate.php#q0

[ February 22, 2008: Message edited by: vikram veera ]
[ February 22, 2008: Message edited by: vikram veera ]