Getting date from unknown Date format string

Question

If i have a string that contain a date in a format (unknown) "d/MM/YY" or "m:d:YYYY" etc.).

How could i parse it and get day,month,year values ?

I tried to parse them by filling an array with all format combinations , and try to parse the date with each one of them , i think it's a stupid solution !

Any ideas ?

Answer 1

your best bet is to use natty

very useful library,

here is an example of how to use it:

public static Date parse(String date) throws Exception {

    try{

        List<DateGroup> parse = new PrettyTimeParser().parseSyntax(date);
        return parse.get(0).getDates().get(0);

    }catch (Exception e){
        throw new Exception("unparseable date: " + date);
    }

}