If you want to parse the format yourself you could do it easily with a regex such as
private static Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("(\\d{2}):(\\d{2}):(\\d{2}).(\\d{3})");
public static long dateParseRegExp(String period) {
Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(period);
if (matcher.matches()) {
return Long.parseLong(matcher.group(1)) * 3600000L
+ Long.parseLong(matcher.group(2)) * 60000
+ Long.parseLong(matcher.group(3)) * 1000
+ Long.parseLong(matcher.group(4));
} else {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid format " + period);
}
}
However, this parsing is quite lenient and would accept 99:99:99.999 and just let the values overflow. This could be a drawback or a feature.