SimpleDateFormat.parse() ignores the number of characters in pattern

Question

I\'m trying to parse a date String which can have tree different formats. Even though the String should not match the second pattern it somehow does and therefore returns a

Answer 1

Thanks @Teetoo. That helped me to find the solution to my problem:

If I want the parse function to match the pattern exactly I have to set "lenient" (SimpleDateFormat.setLenient) of my SimpleDateFormat to false:

SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("d.M.y");
sdf.setLenient(false);
SimpleDateFormat sdf2 = new SimpleDateFormat("d-M-y");
sdf2.setLenient(false);
SimpleDateFormat sdf3 = new SimpleDateFormat("y-M-d");
sdf3.setLenient(false);

This will still parse the date if I only use one pattern letter for each segment but it will recognize that 2013 can't be the day and therefore it does not match the second pattern. In combination with a length check I recive exactly what I want.