Date validation and ParseException Problem

Question

I take in two dates in string format("start","stop") from the user.I am trying to validate them,but i dont know
why it's not taking in the default values which i am trying to give if it throws an exception,infact it directly
goes to the throw statement.Can someone tell me where i am goin wrong??java.text.SimpleDateFormat sdf =  new java.text.SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
Date d=null;
Date d1=null;
try{
sdf.setLenient(false);
d = sdf.parse(start);
d1 = sdf.parse(stop);
}catch(ParseException pe){
start = "2005-02-13 00:00:00;
stop ="2005-02-14 00:00:00;
out.println("DATE ENTERED WAS INVALID-DEFAULT VALUES SHOWN");
throw new IllegalArgumentException(pe.getMessage());
}

Answer 1

Before throwing the exception, there is no logic to process the default dates.