try
{
// if the field isn't found or no annotation is present, then we stay
// with the default date format
final Field field = ReflectionUtils.getDeclaredField( containingClass, fieldName );
final PersistDateAs annotation = field.getAnnotation( PersistDateAs.class );
if( annotation != null )
{
dateFormat = annotation.value();
}
}
catch( NoSuchFieldException e ) { /* empty on purpose */ }
// we must convert the object to the appropriate format