code: public Date createDateWithValidation(String dateString, String inputFormat) {
          try { return createDate(dateString, inputFormat); } 
          catch (Exception exception) {
              Syslog.debug("DateContextImpl.createDateWithValidation:  Error " +
              		     "creating date with " + dateString + "/" + 
              		     inputFormat + "; Exception: " + exception.getMessage());
          }
          
          return null;
      }
docs: Creates a date object based on the format passed in.  Exceptions are NOT
  thrown by this method and instead <code>null</code> is returned.
  Otherwise, this is identical to {@link #createDate(String, String)}.
  
  @param dateString The string from which to create a date
  @param inputFormat The format of the date string
  
  @return The {@link Date} instance representing the date
  
  @see #createDate(String, String)