When I store a Date field in Oracle database it always shows 00:00:00 hour ¿Is it problem of SimpleDateFormat class?

In my Java action file, I am obtaining the actual date to store it in an Oracle database. However, when I store the date in the database, it always appear like 30/05/2020, 00:00:00. I mean, it is not taking the current hour, always appearing 00:00:00.

This is the java code that obtains the date:

    SimpleDateFormat sdffecha_modif = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
    String fechaModif = sdffecha_modif.format(new Date());

Is it a common error? Does anybody know what is happening?

You have not posted enough details and code to diagnose your problem. I can only guess, and I can fix two major problems.

java.sql.Date versus java.util.Date

My guess: You may be using the java.sql.Date class that pretends to represent a date-only value without a time-of-day and without a time zone.

In contrast, the java.util.Date class represents a moment in UTC, a date with time-of-day on offset of zero minutes-hours-seconds.

Avoid legacy date-time classes

Never use either Date class, nor SimpleDateFormat. These terrible classes were years ago supplanted by the modern java.time classes defined in JSR 310.

Smart objects, not dumb strings

Exchange smart objects with the database rather than dumb strings. As of JDBC 4.2 we can exchange java.time objects.

The DATE type in Oracle database is akin to the SQL-standard type TIMESTAMP WITHOUT TIME ZONE. Be aware this type cannot represent a moment, cannot be used for a point in the timeline. Lacking a time zone or offset means these values can represent any moment only a range of about 26-27 hours, the range of time zones around the globe.

java.time

The equivalent type in Java is LocalDateTime.

LocalDate ld = LocalDate.of( 2021 , Month.MAY , 23 ) ;
LocalTime lt = LocalTime.of( 12 , 30 ) ;
LocalDateTime ldt = LocalDateTime.of( ld , lt ) ;

Write to database.

myPreparedStatement.setObject( … , ldt ) ;

Retrieval.

LocalDateTime ldt = myResultSet.getObject( … , LocalDateTime.class ) ;

About java.time

The java.time framework is built into Java 8 and later. These classes supplant the troublesome old legacy date-time classes such as java.util.Date, Calendar, & SimpleDateFormat.

To learn more, see the Oracle Tutorial. And search Stack Overflow for many examples and explanations. Specification is JSR 310.

The Joda-Time project, now in maintenance mode, advises migration to the java.time classes.

You may exchange java.time objects directly with your database. Use a JDBC driver compliant with JDBC 4.2 or later. No need for strings, no need for java.sql.* classes. Hibernate 5 & JPA 2.2 support java.time.

Where to obtain the java.time classes?

• Java SE 8, Java SE 9, Java SE 10, Java SE 11, and later - Part of the standard Java API with a bundled implementation.
• Java 9 adds some minor features and fixes.
• Java SE 6 and Java SE 7
• Most of the java.time functionality is back-ported to Java 6 & 7 in ThreeTen-Backport.
• Android
• Later versions of Android bundle implementations of the java.time classes.
• For earlier Android (<26), the ThreeTenABP project adapts ThreeTen-Backport (mentioned above). See How to use ThreeTenABP….