code: public Date getDate(int field) throws MPXJException
     {
        try
        {
           Date result;
  
           if ((field < m_fields.length) && (m_fields[field].length() != 0))
           {
              result = m_formats.getDateFormat().parse(m_fields[field]);
           }
           else
           {
              result = null;
           }
  
           return (result);
        }
  
        catch (ParseException ex)
        {
           throw new MPXJException("Failed to parse date", ex);
        }
     }
docs: Accessor method used to retrieve an Date instance representing the
  contents of an individual field. If the field does not exist in the
  record, null is returned.
  
  @param field the index number of the field to be retrieved
  @return the value of the required field
  @throws MPXJException normally thrown when parsing fails