How come struts property tag converts java.util.Date in m/d/yy format

Question

I have a Date object in my action class, when I access that object in jsp using <s:property> tag I get Date in m/d/yy format without my intervention, why does that happen?

<s:property value="#xyz"/> where xyz is of type java.util.date show date in m/d/yy format

Yes I didn't use any format but my question is why and how is it by default changing in m/d/yy format? — Abhinav SInghvi, Feb 07 '14 at 05:39
Without posting a code for the `Date` class, it's difficult to tell you about it. — Roman C, Feb 07 '14 at 20:09

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:25

3

Struts recognizes certain object types as listed in the Built in Type Conversion Support section for the documentation and as explained in the linked answer by Andrea.

If you're wondering why your Date object render as m/d/yy format even though you are using an <s:property> tag instead of an <s:date> tag, it's because Date is one of the types that Struts2 has built-in conversion for.

So instead of calling the default toString() method of the Date object, Struts2 will use the built-in type converters to display the String.

In the com.opensymphony.xwork2.conversion.impl.StringConverter class, Struts2 will attempt to convert the Date object to a String in a meaningful way using the default format for the Locale as mentioned by Andrea and the documentation.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:25

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answered Feb 07 '14 at 14:41

nmc

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One more related question : Does tag is thready safe? By looking at StringConverter code it looks like thread safe. Few days back I was using with date = {0,date,yyyy-MM-dd} in package properties and I have observed that results were messing up which gave me an impression that tag is not thread safe. Is it correct observation? For detail question please check : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21574731/struts-date-text-tag-is-thread-safe – Abhinav SInghvi Feb 11 '14 at 14:53
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since Actions are thread safe, tags (!) reading Action's attributes are thread safe... – Andrea Ligios Feb 11 '14 at 14:55
Yes I also think so but while using tag I have observed that responses for parallel requests were messing up. – Abhinav SInghvi Feb 11 '14 at 14:59

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

It is not changing anything: a date is a point in time. The format used to create it (nor the one chosen to display it) has nothing to do with its value.

Since you are not specifying any format, the framework is falling back to the default (DateFormat.SHORT) for the Locale (that probably is en_US) sent by the browser in an HTTP header (if not manually set by you).

You can read here some considerations on how the Date is handled by Struts2.

Note that the DateFormat.MEDIUM format is instead the default when using Struts2 <s:date> tag without specifying a format.

That said, you can set the default date format at application level, or inline in the <s:date /> tag.

How come struts property tag converts java.util.Date in m/d/yy format

2 Answers2

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