/**
* Helper method to set the start date while parsing a date.
*
* @param firstDate The string based representation of a date (number only).
* @param date The <tt>HistoricalDate</tt> object to be updated.
*/
private void setStartDate(String firstDate, HistoricalDate date) {
// create a date instance
try {
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy");
if (firstDate.length() < 3) {
firstDate = firstDate + "00";
} else if (date.getPrecision() == null) {
date.setPrecision(Precision.YEAR);
}
Date d = formatter.parse(firstDate);
date.setStartDate(d);
} catch (ParseException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
