The i18n Cookbook - recipies for a global society

Problem:

You want to format and parse localized currency values.

Solution:

Currency formatting at its most basic is straight forward in Java programming.  Simply retrieve a currency instance of the NumberFormat class and format your number.

To format a currency for Japanese for Japan:

Problem:

You want to format and parse integer values.

Solution:

The Java NumberFormat class makes formatting and parsing a number is localized manner easy and efficient.  Simple specify the locale when retrieving the NumberFormat instance.

To format and parse a number in Hindi:

Problem:

You want to convert a spelled out number to a Number.

Solution:

Parsing a formatted number in Java takes a new twist when the number is fully spelled out.   This can be easily accomplished thanks to the ICU4J library from IBM.  

To parse a spelled out number:

//Get a RuleBasedNumberFormat appropriate for French spellout

RuleBasedNumberFormat rbnf = new RuleBasedNumberFormat(ULocale.ENGLISH,RuleBasedNumberFormat.SPELLOUT);

Problem:

You want to parse a localized date string to a Java Date.

Solution:

As important as date formatting is, you have to be able to parse the formatted dates.  Parsing a date is very similar to formatting the date.  You just call the parse method on a DateFormat instance.