public static long stringToTimestampInMilliseconds(String s,DateFormat formatter){
  Date d=stringToDate(s,formatter);
  return d == null ? 0 : d.getTime();
}

public static long stringToTimestampInMilliseconds ( String s , DateFormat formatter ) { Date d = stringToDate ( s , formatter ) ; return d == null ? 0 : d . getTime ( ) ; }
convert a date time string ( e . g . , " 2011 - 06 - 07 19 : 12 : 18 " ) to a timestamp in milliseconds ( i . e . , the number of milliseconds since january 1 , 1970 , 00 : 00 : 00 gmt .
