JSP/Servlet | JSTL(JSP Standard Tag Library) | Format fmt

Tags:

The fmt format tag library is used when displaying locale, message formats, numbers, dates, and similar values.

Directive declaration

To use formatting, you need the JSTL format declaration at the top of the JSP page.

<%@ taglib prefix="fmt" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/fmt" %>

formatDate

This tag expresses a date format.

<fmt:formatDate value="date" 
        [type="{time|date|both}"]
        [dateStyle="{default|short|medium|long|full}"] 
        [timeStyle="{default|short|medium|long|full}"]
        [pattern="customPattern"] 
        [timeZone="timeZone"] 
        [var="varName"]
        [scope="{page|request|session|application}"]/>

Attribute descriptions

Attribute Type Description Required Default
value java.util.Date Input Date value to display Required
type String Specifies whether the displayed data is time, date, or both date
dateStyle String Predefined date format. Follows the syntax defined in java.text.DateFormat. Used when type is omitted, date, or both
timeStyle String Predefined time format. Used when type is time or both
pattern String Custom format style
timeZone String or java.util.TimeZone Time zone shown during formatting
var String Variable name in the scope that stores the formatted output result string
scope String Scope of var

The pattern attribute is used to specify more precise date handling.

Code Purpose Display example
G The era designator AD
y The year 2018
M The month 7
d The day of the month 6
h The hour (12-hour time) 12
H The hour (24-hour time) 0
m The minute 29
s The second 59
S The millisecond 494
E The day of the week Fri
D The day of the year 187
F The day of the week in the month 1
w The week in the year 27
W The week in the month 1
a The a.m./p.m. indicator AM
k The hour (12-hour time) 24
K The hour (24-hour time) 0
z The time zone KST
' The escape for text
'' The single quote

Usage example

<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" pageEncoding="UTF-8"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %>
<%@ taglib prefix="fmt" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/fmt" %>
<!DOCTYPE html">
<html>
    <head>
        <title>JSTL fmt formatDate</title>
    </head>
    <body>
    <h1>JSTL fmt formatDate</h1>
        <c:set var="now" value="<%=new java.util.Date()%>" />

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="date"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="time"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both" dateStyle="default" timeStyle="default"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both" dateStyle="short" timeStyle="short"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both" dateStyle="medium" timeStyle="medium"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both" dateStyle="long" timeStyle="long"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both" dateStyle="full" timeStyle="full"/></p>

        <p><fmt:formatDate value="${now}" type="both" pattern="yyyy MM dd HH:mm:ss E"/></p>

    </body>
</html>

The result is displayed as follows.

JSTL fmt formatDate

2018. 7. 6

12:19:48 AM

2018. 7. 6 12:19:48 AM

2018. 7. 6 12:19:48 AM

18. 7. 6 12:19 AM

2018. 7. 6 12:19:48 AM

July 6, 2018 12:19:48 AM

Friday, July 6, 2018 12:19:48 AM KST

2018 07 06 00:19:48 Friday