SimpleDateFormat causes thread locks

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Minor
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 5.1 EE SP3 (5.1.6), 5.2 EE SP1 (5.2.5)
• Fix Version/s: 5.1 EE SP4 (5.1.7), 5.2 EE SP2 (5.2.6)
• Component/s: Legacy Components > API
• Labels:
  • 5.2_release_notes
• Environment: All

A race condition is created when java.text.SimpleDateFormat is used in combination with JDBC pooling. The race causes threads to lock. As threads are locked up, the application server will run out of threads and stop responding.

To fix this issue, please use Commons Lang's FastDateFormat instead of SimpleDateFormat. To assist with this change, two new utility class has been added.

com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.FastDateFormatFactoryUtil returns a java.text.Format
com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.DateFormatFactoryUtil returns a java.text.DateFormat

(Format is faster but lacks some of the methods available in DateFormat.)