---
category: [Administration & Integrations, Platform and Product Extensions, Platform and Product Extensions/Integration, Administration & Integrations/Custom Integrations & Apps, Platform and Product Extensions/Workday Extend]
keyword: [Extend, PMD Scripting, Scripts]
nav: wcp_docs
parent_url: /wcp_docs/
title: parse (dateString, dateFormat)
layout: subsection
---

## <a id="section_m3p_myb_5db"></a>Description

Parses the input date string and returns a Date object based on the input date format.

This function is equivalent to [parseFormattedDateString (dateString, dateFormat)](/wcp_docs/lom1526019557540.html).

## <a id="section_cyq_j1m_zsb"></a>Return Type

`Date`

## <a id="section_njs_xzl_zsb"></a>Namespace Function Syntax

```
date:parse(dateString, dateFormat)
```

<table><thead><tr><th>Parameter</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>dateString</td><td>A date string to parse, typically the value of a <code>date</code> or <code>time</code> tag.</td></tr><tr><td>dateFormat</td><td>A date format. <p>For valid date formats, see the Java documentation for <code>java.text.SimpleDateFormat</code>.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

<b>Example</b>

`date:parse('2020-07-01 15:10:45', 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss')`