tl;dr
From database.
OffsetDateTime odt = myResultSet.getObject( … , OffsetDateTime.class ) ; // Most databases including MySQL store a moment in a column of a data type akin to the SQL-standard `TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE` as UTC. So retrieve as a `OffsetDateTime` object, expecting its zone to be set to UTC.
ZonedDateTime zdt = odt.atZoneSameInstant( ZoneId.of( "Pacific/Auckland" ) ) ; // Adjust into any time zone you desire. Same moment, different wall-clock time.
To database.
myPreparedStatement.setObject( // As of JDBC 4.2, exchange java.time objects with your database, not mere integers or strings.
… ,
ZonedDateTime.of(
2014 , 7 , 4 ,
17 , 35 , 7 , 0 ,
ZoneId.of( "Africa/Tunis" ) // Specify the time zone giving context to that date and time – where on earth did you mean 5 PM?
)
.toOffsetDateTime() // Adjust from that zone to UTC.
.withOffsetSameInstant(
ZoneOffset.UTC
)
) ;
java.time
The modern solution uses java.time classes.
LocalDate ld = LocalDate.of( 2014 , Month.JULY , 4 ) ; // Or use integer `7` for July, 1-12 for January-December.
LocalTime lt = LocalTime.of( 17 , 35 , 7 );
To determine a moment, you need more than a date and time-of-day. You need a time zone to provide context. Do you mean 5 PM in Japan, or 5 PM in France, or 5 PM in Québec? Those would be any of three different moments.
A time zone is crucial in determining a date. For any given moment, the date varies around the globe by zone. For example, a few minutes after midnight in Paris France is a new day while still “yesterday” in Montréal Québec.
If no time zone is specified, the JVM implicitly applies its current default time zone. That default may change at any moment during runtime(!), so your results may vary. Better to specify your desired/expected time zone explicitly as an argument.
If you want to use the JVM’s current default time zone, ask for it and pass as an argument. If omitted, the JVM’s current default is applied implicitly. Better to be explicit, as the default may be changed at any moment during runtime by any code in any thread of any app within the JVM.
ZoneId z = ZoneId.systemDefault() ; // Get JVM’s current default time zone.
Specify a proper time zone name in the format of continent/region, such as America/Montreal, Africa/Casablanca, or Pacific/Auckland. Never use the 2-4 letter abbreviation such as EST or IST as they are not true time zones, not standardized, and not even unique(!).
ZoneId z = ZoneId.of( "America/Montreal" ) ;
ZonedDateTime zdt = ZonedDateTime.of( ld , lt , z ) ;
Adjust from that zone to UTC.
OffsetDateTime odt = zdt.toOffsetDateTime().withOffsetSameInstant( ZoneOffset.UTC ) ;
As of JDBC 4.2 we can directly exchange java.time objects with a database.
myPreparedStatement.setObject( … , odt ) ;
And retrieval.
OffsetDateTime odt = myResultSet.getObject( … , OffsetDateTime.class ) ;
Notice that at no point did we require the integer count from epoch reference. We used smart objects rather than dumb integers or strings.
As for Hibernate, I an not a user, but I do know it has been updated to work with the java.time classes.
About java.time
The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.
The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.
To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.
You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes.
Where to obtain the java.time classes?
The ThreeTen-Extra project extends java.time with additional classes. This project is a proving ground for possible future additions to java.time. You may find some useful classes here such as Interval, YearWeek, YearQuarter, and more.
java.sql.Timestampclass has been supplanted byjava.time.Instantandjava.time.OffsetDateTimeclasses.