Java.sql.Date vs java.util.Date vs. java.util.Calendar

Question

All I want to do is create a java.sql.Date subclass which has the Date(String) constructor, some checks for values and a few other additional methods and that avoids deprecation warnings/errors.
I am trying to write a wrapper for the java.sql.Date class that would allow a user to create a Date object using the methods:
Date date1 = new Date(2003, 10, 7);ORDate date2 = new Date("2003-10-07");I am creating classes that mimic MySQL (and eventually other databases) column types in order to allow for data checking since MySQL does not force checks or throw errors as, say, Oracle can be set up to do. All the types EXCEPT the Date, Datetime, Timestamp and Time types for MySQL map nicely to and from java.sql.* objects through wrappers of one sort or another.
Unfortunately, java.sql.Date, java.sql.Timestamp, java.sql.Time are not so friendly and very confusing.
One of my problems is that new java.sql.Date(int,int,int); and new java.util.Date(int,int,int); are both deprecated, so if I use them, I get deprecation warnings (errors) on compile.
Example:
public class Date extends java.sql.Date implements RangedColumn {
  public static final String RANGE = "FROM '1000-01-01' to '8099-12-31'";
  public static final String TYPE = "DATE";
   * Minimum date allowed by <strong>MySQL</strong>. NOTE: This is a MySQL
   * limitation. Java allows dates from '0000-01-01' while MySQL only supports
   * dates from '1000-01-01'.
  public static final Date MIN_DATE = new Date(1000 + 1900,1,1);
   * Maximum date allowed by <strong>Java</strong>. NOTE: This is a Java limitation, not a MySQL
   * limitation. MySQL allows dates up to '9999-12-31' while Java only supports
   * dates to '8099-12-31'.
  public static final Date MAX_DATE = new Date(8099 + 1900,12,31);
  protected int _precision = 0;
  private java.sql.Date _date = null;
  public Date(int year, int month, int date) {
    // Deprecated, so I get deprecation warnings from the next line:
    super(year,month,date);
    if(! isWithinRange(this))
      throw new ValueOutOfRangeException((RangedColumn)this, "" + this);
  public Date(String s) {
    super(0l);
    // Start Cut-and-paste from java.sql.Date.valueOf(String s)
    int year;
    int month;
    int day;
    int firstDash;
    int secondDash;
    if (s == null) throw new java.lang.IllegalArgumentException();
    firstDash = s.indexOf('-');
    secondDash = s.indexOf('-', firstDash+1);
    if ((firstDash > 0) & (secondDash > 0) & (secondDash < s.length()-1)) {
      year = Integer.parseInt(s.substring(0, firstDash)) - 1900;
      month = Integer.parseInt(s.substring(firstDash+1, secondDash)) - 1;
      day = Integer.parseInt(s.substring(secondDash+1));
    } else {
      throw new java.lang.IllegalArgumentException();
    // End Cut-and-paste from java.sql.Date.valueOf(String s)
    // Next three lines are deprecated, causing warnings.
    this.setYear(year);
    this.setMonth(month);
    this.setDate(day);
    if(! isWithinRange(this))
      throw new ValueOutOfRangeException((RangedColumn)this, "" + this);
  public static boolean isWithinRange(Date date) {
    if(date.before(MIN_DATE))
      return false;
    if(date.after(MAX_DATE))
      return false;
    return true;
  public String getRange() { return RANGE; }
  public int getPrecision() { return _precision; }
  public String getType() { return TYPE; }
}This works well, but it's deprecated. I don't see how I can use a java.util.Calendar object in stead without either essentially re-writing java.sql.Date almost entirely or losing the ability to be able to use java.sql.PreparedStatement.get[set]Date(int pos, java.sql.Date date);
So at this point, I am at a loss.
The deprecation documentation for constructor new Date(int,int,int)says "instead use the constructor Date(long date)", which I can't do unless I do a bunch of expensive String -> [Calendar/Date] -> Milliseconds conversions, and then I can't use "super()", so I'm back to re-writing the class again.
I can't use setters like java.sql.Date.setYear(int) or java.util.setMonth(int) because they are deprecated too: "replaced by Calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, int date)". Well GREAT, I can't go from a Date object to a Calendar object, so how am I supposed to use the "Calendar.set(...)" method!?!? From where I'm sitting, this whole Date deprecation thing seems like a step backward not forward, especially in the java.sql.* realm.
To prove my point, the non-deprecated method java.sql.Date.valueOf(String) USES the DEPRECATED constructor java.util.Date(int,int,int).
So, how do I create a java.sql.Date subclass which has the Date(String) constructor that avoids deprecation warnings/errors?
That's all I really want.
HELP!

Answer 1

I appreciate your help, but what I was hoping to accomplish was to have two constructors for my java.sql.Date subclass, one that took (int,int,int) and one that took ("yyyy-MM-dd"). From what I gather from your answers, you don't think it's possible. I would have to have a static instantiator method like:public static java.sql.Date createDate (int year, int month, int date) { ... } OR public static java.sql.Date createDate (String dateString) { ... }Is that correct?
If it is, I have to go back to the drawing board since it breaks my constructor paradigm for all of my 20 or so other MySQL column objects and, well, that's not acceptable, so I might just keep my deprecations for now.
-G