Command object not able to set DATE objects while populating from Form

[sekhar]

Dear all,
I've two Date fields in my form.I'm extending SimpleFormController.I've a command object for this form which is throwing a validation error when submitting the form.
Here is the error

Failed to convert property value of type [java.lang.String] to required type [java.util.Date] for property 'estimatedCompletionDate'; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Cannot convert value of type [java.lang.String] to required type [java.util.Date] for property 'estimatedCompletionDate': no matching editors or conversion strategy found
Failed to convert property value of type [java.lang.String] to required type [java.util.Date] for property 'projectStartDate'; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Cannot convert value of type [java.lang.String] to required type [java.util.Date] for property 'projectStartDate': no matching editors or conversion strategy found

Is there anyway to set automatically to the Date Object type or we need to manually convert it as DATE object ?
Does anyone has any idea on this? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Sekhar.

[thebugslayer]

Hello Sekhar,

Try override initBinder method in your controller, for example like this:

@override
protected void initBinder(HttpServletRequest request,
                          ServletRequestDataBinder binder)
                   throws Exception{

  binder.registerCustomEditor(new org.springframework.beans.propertyeditors.CustomDateEditor(new java.text.SimpleDateFormat("YYYY-MM-DD"), false));
}

you can change the format of date to your liking. The false parameter means you allow empty values in your date form. See API for more details.

-Z

[sekhar]

Thanks a lot thebugsplayer..!!

How about if he doesn't enter any date in the form form validation is failing. I'm getting exception like this
<!--
Failed to convert property value of type [java.lang.String] to required type [java.util.Date] for property 'projectStartDate'; nested exception is java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Could not parse date: Unparseable date: ""
-->
If anybody has any idea on this ?

Thanks,
Sekhar.

[gregd]

The data binder normally will convert the exception to a typeMismatch error.
One quick way to handle this is (assuming you have an error messages properties file) to add an entry like:

typeMismatch=Invalid data entry.