java.util
Class Date

clearTime

public Date clearTime()

 

Clears the time portion of this Date instance; useful utility where it makes sense to compare month/day/year only portions of a Date.

Returns:

the Date but with the time portion cleared

Since:

1.6.7

format

public String format(String format)

 

Create a String representation of this date according to the given format pattern.

For example, if the system timezone is GMT, new Date(0).format('MM/dd/yy') would return the string "01/01/70". See documentation for SimpleDateFormat for format pattern use.

Note that a new DateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Parameters:

format - the format pattern to use according to SimpleDateFormat.

Returns:

a string representation of this date.

Since:

1.5.7

See:

SimpleDateFormat.

format

public String format(String format, TimeZone tz)

 

Create a String representation of this date according to the given format pattern and timezone.

For example: def d = new Date(0) def tz = TimeZone.getTimeZone('GMT') println d.format('dd/MMM/yyyy', tz) would return the string "01/Jan/1970". See documentation for SimpleDateFormat for format pattern use.

Note that a new DateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Parameters:

format - the format pattern to use according to SimpleDateFormat.

tz - the TimeZone to use.

Returns:

a string representation of this date.

Since:

1.8.3

See:

SimpleDateFormat.

getAt

public int getAt(int field)

 

Support the subscript operator for a Date.

Parameters:

field - a Calendar field, e.g. MONTH.

Returns:

the value for the given field, e.g. FEBRUARY

Since:

1.5.5

See:

Calendar.

getDateString

public String getDateString()

 

Return a string representation of the 'day' portion of this date according to the locale-specific DateFormat#SHORT default format. For an "en_UK" system locale, this would be dd/MM/yy.

Note that a new DateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Returns:

a string representation of this date

Since:

1.5.7

See:

DateFormat#getDateInstance.

DateFormat#SHORT.

getDateTimeString

public String getDateTimeString()

 

Return a string representation of the date and time time portion of this Date instance, according to the locale-specific format used by DateFormat. This method uses the DateFormat#SHORT preset for the day portion and DateFormat#MEDIUM for the time portion of the output string.

Note that a new DateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Returns:

a string representation of this date and time

Since:

1.5.7

See:

DateFormat#getDateTimeInstance.

getTimeString

public String getTimeString()

 

Return a string representation of the time portion of this date according to the locale-specific DateFormat#MEDIUM default format. For an "en_UK" system locale, this would be HH:MM:ss.

Note that a new DateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Returns:

a string representing the time portion of this date

Since:

1.5.7

See:

DateFormat#getTimeInstance.

DateFormat#MEDIUM.

minus

public Date minus(int days)

 

Subtract a number of days from this date and returns the new date.

Parameters:

days - the number of days to subtract.

Returns:

the new date

Since:

1.0

minus

public int minus(Date then)

 

Subtract another Date from this one and return the number of days of the difference.

Date self = Date then + (Date self - Date then)

IOW, if self is before then the result is a negative value.

Parameters:

then - another Date.

Returns:

number of days

Since:

1.6.0

next

public Date next()

 

Increment a Date by one day.

Returns:

the next days date

Since:

1.0

parse

public static Date parse(String format, String input)

 

Parse a String into a Date instance using the given pattern. This convenience method acts as a wrapper for SimpleDateFormat.

Note that a new SimpleDateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Parameters:

format - pattern used to parse the input string..

input - String to be parsed to create the date instance.

Returns:

a new Date instance representing the parsed input string

Since:

1.5.7

See:

SimpleDateFormat#parse.

parseToStringDate

public static Date parseToStringDate(String dateToString)

 

Parse a String matching the pattern EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss zzz yyyy containing US-locale-constants only (e.g. Sat for Saturdays). Such a string is generated by the toString method of Date

Note that a new SimpleDateFormat instance is created for every invocation of this method (for thread safety).

Parameters:

dateToString - String to be parsed to create the date instance. Must match the pattern EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss zzz yyyy with US-locale symbols.

Returns:

a new Date instance representing the parsed input string

plus

public Date plus(int days)

 

Add a number of days to this date and returns the new date.

Parameters:

days - the number of days to increase.

Returns:

the new date

Since:

1.0

previous

public Date previous()

 

Decrement a Date by one day.

Returns:

the previous days date

Since:

1.0

putAt

public void putAt(int field, int value)

 

Support the subscript operator for mutating a Date.

Parameters:

field - A Calendar field, e.g. MONTH.

value - The value for the given field, e.g. FEBRUARY.

Since:

1.7.3

See:

Calendar#putAt.

Calendar#set.

set

public void set(Map updates)

 

Support mutating a Date with a Map.

Example usage:

import static java.util.Calendar.YEAR
def date = new Date()
def nextYear = date[YEAR] + 1
date.set(year: nextYear)
println date

Parameters:

updates - A Map of Calendar keys and values.

Since:

1.7.3

See:

Calendar#set.

Calendar#set.

toCalendar

public Calendar toCalendar()

 

Convert a Date to a Calendar.

Returns:

a Calendar corresponding to the given Date

Since:

1.7.6

toTimestamp

public Timestamp toTimestamp()

 

Return a java.sql.Timestamp given a java.util.Date.

Returns:

the date wrapped as a Timestamp

Since:

1.6.6

updated

public Date updated(Map updates)

 

Support creating a new Date having similar properties to an existing Date (which remains unaltered) but with some fields updated according to a Map of changes.

Example usage:

import static java.util.Calendar.YEAR
def today = new Date()
def nextYear = today[YEAR] + 1
def oneYearFromNow = today.updated(year: nextYear)
println today
println oneYearFromNow

Parameters:

updates - A Map of Calendar keys and values.

Returns:

The newly created Date

Since:

1.7.3

See:

Calendar#set.

Date#set.

Calendar#set.

Calendar#updated.