FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
Java version: 1.6.0_26,Sun Microsystems Inc.
Java Runtime: Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_26-b03)
Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 20.1-b02,Sun Microsystems Inc.

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
# uname -a
Linux 2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT 2011-07-21 02:17:24 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

# cat /etc/SuSE-release
openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64)
VERSION = 11.4
CODENAME = Celadon


A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
When using the DateFormat class to format dates for display, with a locale of no or nb, the date format returned is the US standard, not Norwegian.


DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.MEDIUM, locale);

This returns MM/dd/yyyy rather than dd.mm.yyyy

Testing indicates that using a locale of no_NO_B or no_NO_NY are correct, but browsers to not provide those codes as choices for users to select during normal operation.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
1. Write a servlet that retrieves a user's locale via request.getLocale() and creates a date format with the following code:

DateFormat df = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.MEDIUM, locale);

and writes the current date to the http response with the above format object.

2. Deploy the servlet to a web container such as Tomcat or JBoss.

3. Set browser locale to no or nb (Norwegian, Norwegian Bokmal)

4. Access the servlet, observe the date display.



EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Date displayed in MM/dd/yyyy format
ACTUAL -
Date displayed in dd.MM.yyyy format

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
import java.text.DateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Locale;

/**
 * Print out some date formats for different Locales.
 *
 * @author Don Smith
 * @since 20-Oct-2011
 */
public class DateFormatExample
{

    private static final Locale[] LOCALES = {
            Locale.US,
            Locale.UK,
            Locale.CANADA,
            Locale.CANADA_FRENCH,
            Locale.FRANCE,
            new Locale("no"),
            new Locale("nb"),
            new Locale("no_NO"),
            new Locale("no_NO_B"),
            new Locale("no_NO_NY")
    };

    public static void main(String [] args)
    {
        Calendar currentDate = Calendar.getInstance();

        for (Locale loc : LOCALES) {
            DateFormat formatter = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.MEDIUM, loc);
            String dateNow = formatter.format(currentDate.getTime());
            System.out.println("Date format for Locale " + loc.getDisplayName() + ": " + dateNow);
        }

    }
}

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

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Passing in an explicit format.