Add specifying (fixed) date format via application properties

Fixes gh-778, Fixes gh-755

spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/WebMvcAutoConfiguration.java

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.servlet.Servlet;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader;
 import org.springframework.format.Formatter;
 import org.springframework.format.FormatterRegistry;
+import org.springframework.format.datetime.DateFormatter;
 import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageConverter;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.validation.DefaultMessageCodesResolver;
@@ -143,6 +145,9 @@ public class WebMvcAutoConfiguration {
 		@Value("${spring.mvc.locale:}")
 		private String locale = "";
 
+		@Value("${spring.mvc.date-format:}")
+		private String dateFormat = "";
+
 		@Autowired
 		private ListableBeanFactory beanFactory;
 
@@ -200,6 +205,12 @@ public class WebMvcAutoConfiguration {
 			return new FixedLocaleResolver(StringUtils.parseLocaleString(this.locale));
 		}
 
+		@Bean
+		@ConditionalOnExpression("'${spring.mvc.date-format:}' != ''")
+		public Formatter<Date> dateFormatter() {
+			return new DateFormatter(this.dateFormat);
+		}
+
 		@Override
 		public MessageCodesResolver getMessageCodesResolver() {
 			if (this.messageCodesResolverFormat != null) {

spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/WebMvcAutoConfigurationTests.java

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.web;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
+import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@ import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ClassPathResource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+import org.springframework.format.support.FormattingConversionService;
 import org.springframework.mock.web.MockHttpServletRequest;
 import org.springframework.util.ReflectionUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
@@ -152,6 +155,7 @@ public class WebMvcAutoConfigurationTests {
 				equalTo((Resource) new ClassPathResource("/foo/")));
 	}
 
+	@Test
 	public void noLocaleResolver() throws Exception {
 		this.context = new AnnotationConfigEmbeddedWebApplicationContext();
 		this.context.register(AllResources.class, Config.class,
@@ -183,6 +187,35 @@ public class WebMvcAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertThat(locale.toString(), equalTo("en_UK"));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void noDateFormat() throws Exception {
+		this.context = new AnnotationConfigEmbeddedWebApplicationContext();
+		this.context.register(AllResources.class, Config.class,
+				WebMvcAutoConfiguration.class,
+				HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration.class,
+				PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration.class);
+		this.context.refresh();
+		FormattingConversionService cs = this.context.getBean(FormattingConversionService.class);
+		Date date = new DateTime(1988, 6, 25, 20, 30).toDate();
+		// formatting cs should use simple toString()
+		assertThat(cs.convert(date, String.class), equalTo(date.toString()));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void overrideDateFormat() throws Exception {
+		this.context = new AnnotationConfigEmbeddedWebApplicationContext();
+		// set fixed date format
+		EnvironmentTestUtils.addEnvironment(this.context, "spring.mvc.date-format:dd*MM*yyyy");
+		this.context.register(AllResources.class, Config.class,
+				WebMvcAutoConfiguration.class,
+				HttpMessageConvertersAutoConfiguration.class,
+				PropertyPlaceholderAutoConfiguration.class);
+		this.context.refresh();
+		FormattingConversionService cs = this.context.getBean(FormattingConversionService.class);
+		Date date = new DateTime(1988, 6, 25, 20, 30).toDate();
+		assertThat(cs.convert(date, String.class), equalTo("25*06*1988"));
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void noMessageCodesResolver() throws Exception {
 		this.context = new AnnotationConfigEmbeddedWebApplicationContext();

spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/appendix-application-properties.adoc

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ content into your application; rather pick only the properties that you need.
 	http.mappers.json-pretty-print=false # pretty print JSON
 	http.mappers.json-sort-keys=false # sort keys
 	spring.mvc.locale= # set fixed locale, e.g. en_UK
+	spring.mvc.date-format= # set fixed date format, e.g. dd/MM/yyyy
 	spring.mvc.message-codes-resolver.format= # PREFIX_ERROR_CODE / POSTFIX_ERROR_CODE
 	spring.view.prefix= # MVC view prefix
 	spring.view.suffix= # ... and suffix