How to convert a UTC date format String to Date format in java?

Question

I have a requirement where the date is in UTC format like: Thu Jan 1 19:30:00 UTC+0530 1970. I want to convert in to normal date format dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss.Below is the code that i tried.

DateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("E,MMM dd,yyyy h:mmaa");   
String today = formatter.format("Thu Jan 1 19:30:00 UTC+0530 1970");
SimpleDateFormat f = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss zzz yyyy");
Date d = f.parse(masterDetailsJsonObject.get("cols1").toString());

But it throws an exception saying unparseable date. Please guide. Thanks in advance.

I want to convert the same in Java. I tried simpledateformat class but i was getting exception unparseable date.. — sTg
– sTg, Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 14:23
Take a look at docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/text/…. — David R Tribble
– David R Tribble, Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 17:47
@ Andrew : I have added the code that i have tried from my end as per stackoverflow rules. — sTg
– sTg, Commented Sep 11, 2013 at 4:40
By the way, there is no such thing as a "normal" date format. Date-time formats vary widely across different cultures and languages. The closest thing to "normal" would be the official standard, ISO 8601 format like this: 2014-01-24T10:30:27+02:00 — Basil Bourque
– Basil Bourque, Commented Jan 25, 2014 at 4:37

Justin Vincent · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-10 14:37:44Z

4

You can try this

    java.util.Date dt = new java.util.Date("Thu Jan 1 19:30:00 UTC+0530 1970");
    String newDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss").format(dt);
    System.out.println(""+newDateFormat);

answered Sep 10, 2013 at 14:37

Justin Vincent

2,7942 gold badges16 silver badges11 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

luizfelipetx Over a year ago

This works for me . my input is. Sun Mar 13 19:21:30 UTC 2016 works fine

Basil Bourque · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-25 04:53:55Z

Joda-Time

This kind of work is much easier with the third-party open-source date-time library, Joda-Time.

Note that unlike a java.util.Date, a Joda-Time DateTime knows its own time zone.

Here is some example code using Joda-Time 2.3.

String input = "Thu Jan 1 19:30:00 UTC+0530 1970";
DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormat.forPattern( "EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss 'UTC'Z yyyy" );

// Adding "withOffsetParsed()" means "set new DateTime's time zone offset to match input string".
DateTime dateTime = formatter.withOffsetParsed().parseDateTime( input );

// Convert to UTC/GMT (no time zone offset).
DateTime dateTimeUtc = dateTime.toDateTime( DateTimeZone.UTC );

// Convert to India time zone. That is +05:30 (notice half-hour difference).
DateTime dateTimeIndia = dateTimeUtc.toDateTime( DateTimeZone.forID( "Asia/Kolkata" ) );

Dump to console…

System.out.println( "dateTime: " + dateTime );
System.out.println( "dateTimeUtc: " + dateTimeUtc );
System.out.println( "dateTimeIndia: " + dateTimeIndia );

When run…

dateTime: 1970-01-01T19:30:00.000+05:30
dateTimeUtc: 1970-01-01T14:00:00.000Z
dateTimeIndia: 1970-01-01T19:30:00.000+05:30

Back To Date

If you need a java.util.Date for other purposes, convert your DateTime.

java.util.Date date = dateTime.toDate();

Formatted String

To represent your DateTime as a new String in a certain format, search StackOverflow for "joda format". You'll find many questions and answers.

Joda-Time offers many features for generating strings, including default formatters for ISO 8601 formats (seen above), Locale-sensitive formats that automatically change order of elements and even translate words to various languages, formats sensed from the user's computer's settings. If none of those meet your peculiar needs, you may define your own formats with the help of Joda-Time.

Mr. Polywhirl · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-14 20:15:16Z

0

Locale.setDefault(Locale.US);

SimpleDateFormat sourceDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("E MMM d HH:mm:ss 'UTC'Z yyyy");
Date sourceDate = sourceDateFormat.parse("Thu Jan 1 19:30:00 UTC+0530 1970");
System.out.println(sourceDate);

SimpleDateFormat targetFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
String targetString = targetFormat.format(sourceDate);

System.out.println(targetString);

Use "E MMM d HH:mm:ss 'UTC'Z yyyy" as the source format. I don't like Java's Date API, especially for the TimeZone case. Joda-Time seems good.

edited Jan 14, 2015 at 20:15

Mr. Polywhirl

49.1k12 gold badges96 silver badges147 bronze badges

answered Jan 25, 2014 at 8:21

wangwei

1965 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to convert a UTC date format String to Date format in java?

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Joda-Time

Back To Date

Formatted String

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Joda-Time

Back To Date

Formatted String

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related