# Remove Deprecated Date Constructs
# Description
Some java.util.Date constructors like new Date(int year, int month, int day), new Date(int year, int month, int date, int hrs, int min) and new Date(int year, int month, int date, int hrs, int min, int sec) are deprecated and the Calendar should be used instead. This rule searches for deprecated date constructors, introduces calendar instances, sets the time corresponding to the parameters in the deprecated constructor, and replaces the latter with an invocation of Calendar.getTime().
Note that the date constructor is implicitly adding 1900 to the first argument (i.e. year), whereas Calendar.set is expecting the exact year value. Therefore, the rule takes care of preparing the parameters of the Calendar.set properly.
If the deprecated constructor is used in a field initialization, then an initializer block is introduced for creating the calendar and initializing the field. See the examples below.
# Benefits
The major advantage of this rule is that you get rid of the long deprecated Date constructors.
# Tags
Tags
# Code Changes
# Year, Month, Day
Pre
Date date = new Date(99, 1, 1);
Post
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.set(1999, 1, 1);
Date date = calendar.getTime();
# Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minutes
Pre
Date date = new Date(99, 2, 3, 4, 5);
Post
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.set(1999, 2, 3, 4, 5);
Date date = calendar.getTime();
# Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minutes, Seconds
Pre
Date date = new Date(99, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6);
Post
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.set(1999, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6);
Date date = calendar.getTime();
# Class Fields
Pre
class Foo {
Date date = new Date(99, 1, 1);
}
Post
class Foo {
Date date;
{
Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
calendar.set(1999, 1, 1);
date = calendar.getTime();
}
}
# Limitations
Another deprecated java.util.Date constructor is new Date(String s) and is not handled by this rule.
🛠️ Auto-refactor Available
You can auto-refactor this with jSparrow.
Drop this button to your Eclipse IDE workspace to install jSparrow for free:
Need help? Check out our installation guide.
# Properties
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Rule ID | DateDeprecated |
| First seen in jSparrow version | 2.5.0 |
| Minimum Java version | 1.1 |
| Remediation cost | 1 min |