Qn regarding HSSFDataFormat

["Kumar, Karthik" <ka...@bankofamerica.com>]

Why does the HSSFDataFormat define a bunch of predefined formats? Isn't
this less flexible than the Java way of doing it (SimpleDateFormat for
example), where you can construct your own format string? I need to
define my own format string in HSSFDataFormat. The javadoc shows this:
 
"Utility to identify builin formats. Now can handle user defined data
formats also. The following is a list of the formats as returned by this
class."
 
It says it can handle user defined data formats also. But the javadoc
for this class is terrible. Nowhere does it say *how* this can be done.
Does anyone know how to do this?
 
Karthik Kumar
Contractor
MBS/ABS Analytics
Banc of America Securities, LLC
(704) 683-5188