Q:

Java library for Date scanning (like Scanner for number)?

Scanner.class give many useful tools to analyse numbers, like .hasNext_() and .next_() methods which can be triggered to specific traitments.
Is somewhere something like this, for Date : in a first time it would be to detect dates in a String, and adapts response to the format (mm/dd/yy|dd/mm/yy|yyyymmdd, are seconds inside, are letters inside, is four digits year, is negative ...) .
Edit for responses

Scanner give more than SimpleDateFormat it is able to return MatchResult and all is already done (and tested), Is such work is already done, or have I to developp it (re-invent wheel?)
Negative date for before JC periods
mm/dd/yy are from English, dd/mm/yy from other European, yyyymmdd from OS, so finding those differences gives different responses to apply.

Edit2
Calendar is a pretty tool, just know if somebody have already add on it the method above.

A:

Take a look at Natty library. It's pretty cool. It can parse different kinds of dates including "today" "tommorow" "next Friday". Drawbacks is that you cannot really customize it. It has predefined rules for parsing dates and if you want to add/modify them you have to get source code and then compile your own version of natty.

