private Date parseDate(String dateString) throws ParseException {
  java.util.Date parsedDate=DateField.parse(dateString);
  if (parsedDate == null)   return null;
  return new Date(parsedDate.getTime());
}

private Date parseDate ( String dateString ) throws ParseException { java . util . Date parsedDate = DateField . parse ( dateString ) ; if ( parsedDate == null ) return null ; return new Date ( parsedDate . getTime ( ) ) ; }
parses the given string into a corresponding date . the string must follow the standard format used by date attributes , as defined by datefield . format and as would be produced by datefield . format ( ) .
