Date parsing with Arabic Locale returning null

Question

Hi all,
We are encountering a strange problem with Java SimpleDateFormat class when the Locale is set to Arabic.Here is the code.
Calendar cal = null;
java.util.Date dt = null;
Locale locale = new Locale("ar","SA");
System.out.println(locale.getDisplayCountry());
System.out.println(locale.getDisplayLanguage());
Locale.setDefault(locale) ;
SimpleDateFormat dateFmt = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm");
ParsePosition parsePos = new ParsePosition(0);
String tzID = "PST";
dt = dateFmt.parse("1999-01-01 00:00:00.0"+ " " + tzID, parsePos);
System.out.println("TimeZoneID is"+tzID);
System.out.println("Date is"+dt);
here we get dt as null.Can any one plz give me a solution for this.
Thanx in advance.
Regards,
Ashok

Answer 1

In the pattern "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm" the part "-" seems not to be parsed. Did you search the Bug Database?
(Try using the following modified version of the code to see where the parsing error occurs.)
Calendar cal = null;
java.util.Date dt = null;
Locale locale = new Locale("ar","SA");
System.out.println(locale.getDisplayCountry());
System.out.println(locale.getDisplayLanguage());
Locale.setDefault(locale) ;
SimpleDateFormat dateFmt = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm");
ParsePosition parsePos = new ParsePosition(0);
String tzID = "PST";
dt = dateFmt.parse("2003-02-20 00:00", parsePos);
if (parsePos.getErrorIndex()==-1){
System.out.println("TimeZoneID is "+tzID);
System.out.println("Date is "+dt);
}else{
  System.out.print("Parsing Error at ");// in this case error occurs at 5, i.e., the place immediately after the first appearance of '-'.
  System.out.println(String.valueOf(parsePos.getErrorIndex()));
}