c# convert string to date - what kind of format is this?

Question

I have the following DateTime string 2014-11-03 08:44:00:082467 Z

When I try to do c simple Convert.ToDateTime I got and error that it's not a recognized DateTime string.

I also tried what's suggested in the post here: DateTime.Parse("2012-09-30T23:00:00.0000000Z") always converts to DateTimeKind.Local

var date = DateTime.ParseExact("2012-09-30T23:00:00.0000000Z",
                                   "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.fffffff'Z'",
                                   CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                                   DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal |
                                   DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal);

But got the same error. What kind of DateTime string is this? and how can I convert it to a DateTime object? Also, it's not the currect time (I'm 2 hours before) - so I'm guessing it's some kind of universal time.

Thanks

Did you try adjusting the date format string to match your data? — Rowland Shaw, Nov 03 '14 at 08:57
It's very odd to have a `:` before the subsecond value instead of a `.` — Jon Skeet, Nov 03 '14 at 08:58
@PatrickHofman the code I posted is from another post that I found - it doesn't work on my string. — developer82, Nov 03 '14 at 09:02

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Nov 03 '14 at 08:59

1

It looks like ISO 8601 format.

DateTime.Now.ToString("o")

edited Nov 03 '14 at 08:59

Patrick Hofman

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answered Nov 03 '14 at 08:58

Patrick Allwood

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so how do I make the conversion from string? – developer82 Nov 03 '14 at 08:59
`DateTime time = DateTime.ParseExact(date, "o", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal);` will parse the time. Any offsets that need to be applied I'll leave to you. – Patrick Allwood Nov 03 '14 at 09:06

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 03 '14 at 09:07

This is the format that applies to your string, although it is not a valid string according to the ISO 8601 standard:

var date = DateTime.ParseExact("2014-11-03 08:44:00:082467 Z",
                               "yyyy-MM-dd' 'HH:mm:ss:ffffff' Z'",
                               CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                               DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal |
                               DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal);

Dotnetfiddle

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 03 '14 at 09:10

The two dates you provide in your question are not the same at all !

Assuming your question applies to the second, which looks like to be standard, the answer is :

string s = "2012-09-30T23:00:00.0000000Z";
var date = DateTime.ParseExact(s, "o", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                                   DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal |
                                   DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal);
Console.WriteLine(date);

(full working sample)

c# convert string to date - what kind of format is this?

3 Answers3