How to Resolve the \'Cannot format given Object as a Date\' Exception in Java?

Exception "Cannot format given Object as a Date" in Java: Resolved

When attempting to format a string representing a date into a specific format, developers may encounter the "Cannot format given Object as a Date" exception. This occurs because the provided DateFormat instance is used to format Date values, not strings.

To address this issue, utilize two SimpleDateFormat objects: one for parsing (converting string to Date) and one for formatting (converting Date to string). Here's an example:

<code class="java">import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.Locale;

public class DateParser {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        // Define formats for input and output
        DateFormat outputFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/yyyy", Locale.US);
        DateFormat inputFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSX", Locale.US);

        // Parse input string into a Date object
        String inputText = "2012-11-17T00:00:00.000-05:00";
        Date date = inputFormat.parse(inputText);

        // Format the Date object using the desired format
        String outputText = outputFormat.format(date);
        System.out.println(outputText); // Output: 11/2012
    }
}</code>

Note that it's advisable to specify a locale when creating the SimpleDateFormat instances to ensure correct date and time handling based on the user's locale. Additionally, consider using the Joda Time library for advanced date and time manipulation capabilities.

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