JDK-7130335 : Problem with timezone in a SimpleDateFormat
  • Type: Bug
  • Component: core-libs
  • Sub-Component: java.text
  • Affected Version: 6u24
  • Priority: P2
  • Status: Closed
  • Resolution: Fixed
  • OS: generic
  • CPU: generic
  • Submitted: 2012-01-16
  • Updated: 2014-11-19
  • Resolved: 2012-08-07
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5.0-poolFixed 6u31-revFixed 7u4Fixed 8 b25Fixed
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Description
SHORT SUMMARY:  Inaccurate date reports when using yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss.S z 
date format on a Timezone with historical TZ rules
INDICATORS:  Can occur when parsing date strings with TimeZone included, the 
"z" element.
COUNTER INDICATORS:
TRIGGERS: 
SimpleDateFormat class can incorrectly calculate a DST offset when parsing 
date strings that contain the TimeZone. If the parsed TZ has used different 
rules over past years, then the hour offset from the DST calculation may be 
incorrect. In general, applications shouldn't rely on time zone abbreviations 
for parsing of date strings. e.g CST can represent different timezones across 
the globe.

KNOWN WORKAROUND: Don't use timezone abbreviations in timezones strings that 
are to be parsed. Perhaps store the timezone separately.
PRESENT SINCE: N/A
HOW TO VERIFY:
NOTES FOR SE: Dev engineer has proposed some changes to correct this. It 
should first be ported to JDK 8 and baked/tested there for compatibility 
behaviour. Once satisfied, we can port it to a JDK 6 update release.

REGRESSION:

Comments
EVALUATION SimpleDateFormat calls TimeZone.getRawOffset() which doesn't deal with any historical GMT offset changes. It should avoid the use of the fixed GMT offset.
16-01-2012