code: public Date readDate(DateFormat format) throws IOException, ParseException {
          String temp = this.readField(false /* isQuotedString */);
  
          if (Utility.isNullOrEmpty(temp)) {
              return null;
          }
          else {
              return format.parse(temp);
          }
      }
docs: Read a Date from the stream.
  
  @param format
  the format in which the date is stored, for parsing purposes.
  @return
  the Date read.
  @throws IOException
  @throws ParseException