public static Timestamp stringToTimeStamp(String dateTimeString,String dateTimeFormat,TimeZone tz,Locale locale) throws ParseException {
  DateFormat dateFormat=toDateTimeFormat(dateTimeFormat,tz,locale);
  Date parsedDate=dateFormat.parse(dateTimeString);
  return new Timestamp(parsedDate.getTime());
}

public static Timestamp stringToTimeStamp ( String dateTimeString , String dateTimeFormat , TimeZone tz , Locale locale ) throws ParseException { DateFormat dateFormat = toDateTimeFormat ( dateTimeFormat , tz , locale ) ; Date parsedDate = dateFormat . parse ( dateTimeString ) ; return new Timestamp ( parsedDate . getTime ( ) ) ; }
localized string to timestamp conversion . to be used in tandem with timestamptostring ( ) .
