I have a SpringBoot app. using Spring Initializer, embedded Tomcat, Thymeleaf template engine, and package as an executable JAR file.
I have a domain object with 2 properties (initDate, endDate). I want to create 2 converters to deal with mySQL DB
@Convert(converter = LocalDateTimeAttributeConverter.class)
private LocalDateTime initDate;
@Convert(converter = ZonedDateTimeAttributeConverter.class)
private ZonedDateTime endDate;
the converter 1 (is OK)
@Converter
public class LocalDateTimeAttributeConverter implements AttributeConverter<LocalDateTime, Timestamp> {
@Override
public Timestamp convertToDatabaseColumn(LocalDateTime localDateTime) {
return (localDateTime == null ? null : Timestamp.valueOf(localDateTime));
}
@Override
public LocalDateTime convertToEntityAttribute(Timestamp sqlTimestamp) {
return (sqlTimestamp == null ? null : sqlTimestamp.toLocalDateTime());
}
}
This is the one that I want to create
@Converter
public class ZonedDateTimeAttributeConverter implements AttributeConverter<ZonedDateTime, Timestamp> {
@Override
public Timestamp convertToDatabaseColumn(ZonedDateTime zoneDateTime) {
return (zoneDateTime == null ? null : Timestamp.valueOf(zoneDateTime));
}
@Override
public ZonedDateTime convertToEntityAttribute(Timestamp sqlTimestamp) {
return (sqlTimestamp == null ? null : sqlTimestamp.toZonedDateTime());
}
}
But I can't because I have 2 errors:
The method valueOf(String) in the type Timestamp is not applicable for the arguments (ZonedDateTime)
and the TimeStamp does not have the method toZonedDateTime()
and if I don't add any converter for the ZonedDate, JPA creates a table with the type varbinary(255)
Timestamp extends Date
to provide nanosecond accuracy. Neither Date
nor Timestamp
are designed to refer to a specific timezone as ZoneDateTime
.
If you need to convert ZonedDateTime
-> Timestamp
you will have to discard the timezone/offset information. E.g.
LocalDateTime withoutTimezone = zoneDateTime.toLocalDateTime();
Timestamp timestamp = Timestamp.valueOf(withoutTimezone));
and for converting Timestamp
-> ZonedDateTime
you need to specify an offset:
LocalDateTime withoutTimezone = sqlTimestamp.toLocalDateTime();
ZonedDateTime withTimezone = withoutTimezone.atZone(ZoneId.of("+03:00"));
or timezone:
ZonedDateTime withTimezone = withoutTimezone.atZone(ZoneId.of("Europe/Paris"));
If your intention is to save ZonedDateTime
variables in the database and preserve the various timezones specified there, I recommend designing your database accordingly. Suggestions:
- Use a column of type
DATETIME
to save a LocalDateTime
and a VARCHAR
saving a timezone like "Europe/Paris"
or a SMALLINT
saving an offset in minutes.
- Convert the
ZonedDateTime
to a String
and save in a VARCHAR
column like "2017-05-16T14:12:48.983682+01:00[Europe/London]"
. You'll then have to parse it when reading from the database.
Jon Skeet said it already:
@Override
public Timestamp convertToDatabaseColumn(ZonedDateTime zoneDateTime) {
return zoneDateTime == null ? null : Timestamp.from(zoneDateTime.toInstant());
}
@Override
public ZonedDateTime convertToEntityAttribute(Timestamp sqlTimestamp) {
return sqlTimestamp == null ? null : sqlTimestamp.toInstant().atZone(ZoneId.systemDefault());
}
Jon also asked the good question, which time zone do you want? I have guessed at ZoneId.systemDefault()
. Obviously a different time zone will give a different result, so I hope you will think twice and will be able to find the right time zone for your purpose.
PS I have reduced the usage of parentheses since I found it more readable with fewer. You can add them back in if you prefer.