How to make DateFormat guess intended century?

datetime, java

Solution

You can change the century it uses to interpret 2 digit data entry with the `set2DigitYearStart()` method.

SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yy");
String aDate = "03/17/40";
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.clear();
cal.set(Calendar.YEAR, 2000);
dateFormat.set2DigitYearStart(cal.getTime());
System.out.println(dateFormat.get2DigitYearStart());
System.out.println(dateFormat.parse(aDate));

Will print March 17, 2040.

Problem

I am trying to parse a `String` in "dd-MM-yy" format to a `Date` object. The problem is that it tries to guess the century for the date. When specified from 01 to 31, year is interpreted as 2000s (21st Century) and 32 t0 99 is considered 1900s (20th Century). ``` SimpleDateFormat fm =new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yy"); String datestr="21-11-31"; try { Date date= fm.parse(datestr); System.out.println(date); } catch (ParseException e) { } ``` Can anyone help me? How can I specify that I am only working in the 21st Century neatly. I am not exactly trying to look for tricks like manipulating the string or shifting the date based on the condition.

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