Converting "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX" and "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSSSSSX" to one common Timestamp for a SQL table

To convert both date-time formats ("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX" and "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSSSSSX") into a common Timestamp format for storing in a SQL table, you can follow these steps. These formats differ in the number of fractional seconds and how the timezone is represented, so a common approach is to standardize both to a Timestamp with millisecond precision or another consistent format that SQL supports.

Steps to Standardize Formats:

Use DateTimeFormatter for Parsing:

Java's DateTimeFormatter can parse both formats and normalize them into a consistent Instant object (which is timezone-agnostic).

Example:

DateTimeFormatter formatter1 = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX");

DateTimeFormatter formatter2 = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSSSSSX");

Parse the Date Strings:

Parse the input strings into Instant objects using the appropriate formatters.

Example:

String dateString1 = "2025-01-14T12:34:56.123+02:00"; // Format 1

String dateString2 = "2025-01-14T12:34:56.1234567+02:00"; // Format 2

Instant instant1 = Instant.from(formatter1.parse(dateString1));

Instant instant2 = Instant.from(formatter2.parse(dateString2));

Convert to Timestamp:

After parsing the date strings into Instant, you can convert them to Timestamp objects for SQL storage.

Example:

Timestamp timestamp1 = Timestamp.from(instant1);

Timestamp timestamp2 = Timestamp.from(instant2);

Store in SQL Table:

Ensure that your SQL table has a column with the appropriate TIMESTAMP data type to store the values.

SQL insert example:

INSERT INTO my_table (timestamp_column) VALUES (?);

Additional Considerations:

TimeZone Handling: Ensure that the time zone information is preserved during parsing and conversion, especially when using formats that include timezone offsets (XXX or X).

Precision: Depending on the database, you may want to round or truncate the fractional seconds to fit the precision supported by the TIMESTAMP type in SQL.

By following these steps, you can convert both date-time formats to a common Timestamp that will be compatible with SQL storage.