FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.4.2"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2-b28)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2-b28, mixed mode)


FULL OS VERSION :
this is an API-problem, not OS-specific.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The Documentation of SimpleDateFormat
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html#year

says:

| Year: For formatting, if the number of pattern letters is 2,
| the year is truncated to 2 digits; otherwise it is interpreted
| as a number.

So when formatting a date in year 2003 whith a pattern consisting
of exactly one letter (or exactly 3 letters), the year should be
treated as a number (and thus printed truncated).

The current implementation in both cases truncates the year
to two digits (03).

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Compile and run the class given below.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Output should be:

2003
2003
ACTUAL -
Output is

03
03

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
import java.util.Date;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;

class Beispiel
{
public static void main(String[] params)
{
Date d = new Date(1065306927040L);
System.out.println(new SimpleDateFormat("y").format(d));
System.out.println(new SimpleDateFormat("yyy").format(d));
}
}

---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
One could use the pattern "yyyy" for 4-digit-years,
but this would format with leading zeros when given
a year with 3 or fewer digits. Additionally, it has
other impacts on parsing.