date format using JSTL

Have an input field in my JSP.Would like to check if it's empty do nothing, if it's not empty then, format the data in that field in mm/dd/yyyy format.how to do this using JSTL?Thanks.
[221 byte] By [Rxyza] at [2007-10-2 9:54:07]
# 1
using strutsso, have it as<html:text name="Form1" styleId="dateID" property="effdate" />
Rxyza at 2007-7-16 23:58:57 > top of Java-index,Enterprise & Remote Computing,Web Tier APIs...