private AttributedCharacterIterator formatToCharacterIteratorImpl(Date date) {
StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
ArrayList<FieldPosition> fields = new ArrayList<FieldPosition>();
// format the date, and find fields
formatImpl(date, buffer, null, fields);
// create and AttributedString with the formatted buffer
AttributedString as = new AttributedString(buffer.toString());
// add DateFormat field attributes to the AttributedString
for (FieldPosition pos : fields) {
Format.Field attribute = pos.getFieldAttribute();
as.addAttribute(attribute, attribute, pos.getBeginIndex(), pos.getEndIndex());
}
// return the CharacterIterator from AttributedString
return as.getIterator();
}
