Parsing

parse and tryParse read strings written in the same pattern syntax as format, including do ordinals and [literal] or 'literal' text, so formatting and parsing round-trip.

parse / tryParse

• strict: true rejects out-of-range values such as February 30.
• utc: true returns a UTC DateTime.
• tryParse returns null instead of throwing a FormatException.
• Input is read in the formatter's locale: month and weekday names must be in that language. The sample input follows the locale selected in the dark bar.

LOADING…localeennowweeklocalemondaysundaysaturday

⚙ TRY IT

patterninput (sample in this locale)

⚡ OUTPUT

final formatter = FlutterDateFormatter('do MMMM yyyy', 'en');

formatter.parse('');
formatter.tryParse(''); // null instead of throwing

parseAny

Use parseAny when an input may use more than one known pattern. Patterns are tried in order and the first successful parse is returned.

final value = FlutterDateFormatter.parseAny(
  '2025-03-10',
  patterns: ['yyyy-MM-dd', 'dd/MM/yyyy'],
  locale: 'en',
  strict: true,
);

If every pattern fails, parseAny throws the last FormatException. Passing an empty pattern list throws an ArgumentError.

For validation UIs, use parseAnyDetailed to inspect every attempt without throwing when no pattern matches:

final result = FlutterDateFormatter.parseAnyDetailed(
  input,
  patterns: ['yyyy-MM-dd', 'dd/MM/yyyy'],
);

if (result.matched) {
  print(result.value);
} else {
  for (final attempt in result.attempts) {
    print('${attempt.pattern}: ${attempt.error?.message}');
  }
}

Ordinals

For do, the parser tries each ordinal suffix of the locale and keeps the result whose day actually takes that suffix, so 2st March is rejected.