What format should webservice DateTime be?
in [VB.NET]
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From: Mark B on 10 Sep 2009 18:05 Our webservice from a server is Florida is returning date strings in the format: "04/10/2009 2:12:25 p.m.|" i.e. "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", that is April 10, 2009 However when we consume the webservice via a local C# app, if the app is in New Zealand, it treats the date as being October 4, 2009 since New Zealand uses "dd/mm/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", not "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.". What's the best way for the webservice to return a DateTime value so it is understood no matter where in the world it is consumed?
From: Armin Zingler on 10 Sep 2009 18:41 Mark B schrieb: > Our webservice from a server is Florida is returning date strings in the > format: > > "04/10/2009 2:12:25 p.m.|" > > i.e. "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", that is April 10, 2009 > > > However when we consume the webservice via a local C# app, if the app is in > New Zealand, it treats the date as being October 4, 2009 since New Zealand > uses "dd/mm/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", not "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.". > > > What's the best way for the webservice to return a DateTime value so it is > understood no matter where in the world it is consumed? How do you convert the String to DateTime? Try DateTime.ParseExact instead (note that month=MM (capitals) and minutes=mm). -- Armin
From: Mark B on 10 Sep 2009 19:00 Thanks. I'll look into how the local C# app is parsing. I figured the "MM" too when "mm" was not working. I'm thinking I might use the following in the webservice in case the webhost people in Florida decide to change the format of their datetime. Otherwise if I used parse exact it might not work if they changed their format: Function fWsDateFormat(ByVal dtRawDate As Object) As String 'Convert date time to standardized string '--------------------------------------------- Dim strDateTimeStringFormat As String = "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss tt" If dtRawDate.ToString = "" Then Return "" End If Return Format(dtRawDate, strDateTimeStringFormat) End Function Hopefully then no matter which country the app was in, it would interpret the date the same. "Armin Zingler" <az.nospam(a)freenet.de> wrote in message news:OZ9MNfmMKHA.5776(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > Mark B schrieb: >> Our webservice from a server is Florida is returning date strings in the >> format: >> >> "04/10/2009 2:12:25 p.m.|" >> >> i.e. "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", that is April 10, 2009 >> >> >> However when we consume the webservice via a local C# app, if the app is >> in >> New Zealand, it treats the date as being October 4, 2009 since New >> Zealand >> uses "dd/mm/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", not "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss >> a.m/p.m.". >> >> >> What's the best way for the webservice to return a DateTime value so it >> is >> understood no matter where in the world it is consumed? > > How do you convert the String to DateTime? Try DateTime.ParseExact > instead (note that month=MM (capitals) and minutes=mm). > > > -- > Armin >
From: Armin Zingler on 10 Sep 2009 20:14 Mark B schrieb: > Thanks. I'll look into how the local C# app is parsing. > > I figured the "MM" too when "mm" was not working. > > I'm thinking I might use the following in the webservice in case the webhost > people in Florida decide to change the format of their datetime. Otherwise > if I used parse exact it might not work if they changed their format: > > > Function fWsDateFormat(ByVal dtRawDate As Object) As String > > 'Convert date time to standardized string > '--------------------------------------------- > Dim strDateTimeStringFormat As String = "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss tt" > If dtRawDate.ToString = "" Then > Return "" > End If > Return Format(dtRawDate, strDateTimeStringFormat) > > End Function > > Hopefully then no matter which country the app was in, it would interpret > the date the same. > In what way does this help solve the aforementioned problem? This function converts into a String but not the other way round. How will you know the new format if it will be changed? Isn't it possible to get the values as a DateTime or DateTimeOffset object? When working with dates/times, they should not be held in Strings. Only the user interface frontend should deal with a certain format and the conversion from/to String. It's more secure to narrow down types as good as possible. Is there a reason why the argument's type is 'Object'? If you pass a Form it will fail at runtime. With a DateTime object, you can go the straight way by calling dtRawDate.ToString(<format>). See also "Working with base types": http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/7wchwf6k.aspx -- Armin
From: bruce barker on 10 Sep 2009 23:58
you should use the gmt time format (RFC 1123). Also be sure to convert local date/time to gmt: var date = DateTime.Now; var utcdate = new DateTimeOffset(date, TimeZoneInfo.Local.GetUtcOffset(date1); var webDate = utcDate.ToUniversalTime().ToString("r"); -- bruce (sqlwork.com) Mark B wrote: > Our webservice from a server is Florida is returning date strings in the > format: > > "04/10/2009 2:12:25 p.m.|" > > i.e. "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", that is April 10, 2009 > > > However when we consume the webservice via a local C# app, if the app is > in New Zealand, it treats the date as being October 4, 2009 since New > Zealand uses "dd/mm/yyyy hh:nn:ss a.m/p.m.", not "mm/dd/yyyy hh:nn:ss > a.m/p.m.". > > > What's the best way for the webservice to return a DateTime value so it > is understood no matter where in the world it is consumed? > > > > > > > > > |