Spring: Convert String from View to a Calendar Object

Question

How can I convert a string from a form input (easyui-datetimebox, in case) to a Calendar property in an object in Controller, autobinded by Spring?

I've read http://docs.spring.io/spring/docs/3.2.x/spring-framework-reference/html/validation.html but I couldn't find anything nearly right-to-the-point there.

JSP:

<input id="DeadLineDate"
  class="easyui-datetimebox" 
  name="DeadLineDate"
  value="${SessionDeadLineDate}"
  data-options="formatter:myformatter,
                parser:myparser
/>

When submited, Spring validation throws an error:

Failed to convert property value of type java.lang.String to required type java.util.Calendar for property DeadLineDate; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: Cannot convert value of type [java.lang.String] to required type [java.util.Calendar] for property DeadLineDate: no matching editors or conversion strategy found.

PS: Spring 3

Edit: adding controller's method to perform operation:

@Controller
@RequestMapping("/project/MaintainProjectFrm")
@SessionAttributes({"project","SessionDeadLineDate"})
public class MaintainProjectController {

    /* ... many methods... */

    @RequestMapping(params = "update", method = RequestMethod.POST, produces={"text/plain; charset=UTF-8"})
    public String update(@ModelAttribute("project") Project project, 
                            BindingResult result, 
                                    SessionStatus status, 
                                        ModelMap model,
                                            HttpServletRequest req,
                                                HttpServletResponse resp) throws IOException {

        projectValidator.validate(project, result);

        if (result.hasErrors()) {
             //has errors, in this case, that one shown in text above, which is rendered again in view (JSP)
            return "/project/MaintainProjectFrm";
        } else {

            try{
                mpService.updateProject(project);
            }
            catch(Exception e){
                resp.setStatus(500);
                resp.getWriter().write("Error updating project: " + e.getMessage());
                return "/project/MaintainProjectFrm";
            }

            status.setComplete();

        }
    }

    /* ... yet other methods ... */
}

I'd use @RequestParam in order to receive DeadLineDate from view, and manually create a Calendar object on it, updating the Project object. But of course it's not the ellegant way to do so! I'd like to know if in a certain maneer Spring is able of autobinding a Calendar from this property. — Alex
– Alex, Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 14:32

Sotirios Delimanolis · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-21 14:33:14Z

8

I'm assuming your Project class has the field DeadLineDate (fields should start with a lowercase character).

Annotate it with @DateTimeFormat like so

@DateTimeFormat(pattern = "yyyy/MM/dd") // or whatever pattern you want
private Calendar DeadLineDate;

Your client will then need to send the appropriate pattern.

answered Jan 21, 2014 at 14:33

Sotirios Delimanolis

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2 Comments

Alex Over a year ago

Excellent!!! I was expecting more about sth like @gregor wrote, but definitely it was the simplest way. It's wonderful that Spring has this flexibility. And yes, I'm surely using java pattern. My propertie was "miscapitalized" while translating stuff names from Portuguese. Thanks a lot!

viniciusalvess Over a year ago

Great aproach !

gregor · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-21 14:29:30Z

4

You have two possibilities to achieve this: You can use a PropertyEditor

@InitBinder
public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
    binder.registerCustomEditor(Calendar.class, new PropertyEditorSupport() {
        @Override
        public void setAsText(String text) throws IllegalArgumentException {
            setValue(parseDate());
        }

        private Calendar parseDate() {
            try {
                Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
                SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd HH:mm:ss z yyyy");
                cal.setTime(sdf.parse("Mon Mar 14 16:02:37 GMT 2011"));
                return cal;
            } catch (ParseException e) {
                 return null;
            }
        }
    });
}

For Documentation see this and this.

Or you can use spring conversion service. For this see: "Spring 3 Type Conversion".

answered Jan 21, 2014 at 14:29

gregor

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4 Comments

Alex Over a year ago

thanks for your answer (I've voted up). But I rather used Sotirios Delimanolis approach, which was the simplest solution for my case. Regards!

sarwar026 Over a year ago

@Alex: Does the accepted solution works for spring 3.1? For my case, this answer saved me! Thanks gregor. +1

Alex Over a year ago

@sarwar026, I'm actually upgrading to Spring 3.6, and I was not able to test it yet.

sarwar026 Over a year ago

@Alex: I see. I will try to upgrade my one too. Thanks!

Felipe Volpato · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-27 20:23:14Z

-1

try this like Sotirios Delimanolis said..

@DateTimeFormat(pattern = "yyyy/MM/dd") // or whatever pattern you want
private Calendar DeadLineDate;

and finally, add this to pom.xml:

<dependency>
   <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
   <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
   <version>2.3</version>
</dependency>

answered Apr 27, 2015 at 20:23

Felipe Volpato

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