title: Joda time : How to convert String to LocalDate?
body: <p>How to specify the format string to convert the date alone from string. In my case, only the date part is relevant</p>
  
  <p>Constructing it as <code>DateTime</code> fails:</p>
  
  <pre><code>String dateString = "2009-04-17";
  DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormat.forPattern("yyyy-MM-dd");
  DateTime dateTime = formatter.parseDateTime(dateString);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>with error <code>java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid format: "2011-04-17" is too short</code></p>
  
  <p>Probably because I should use <code>LocalDate</code> instead. But, I do not see any formatter for <code>LocalDate</code> . What is the best way to convert <code>String dateString = "2009-04-17";</code> into <code>LocalDate</code> (or something else if that is not the right representation)</p>
  
  <p>thanks...</p>