The correct Javascript Date.parse(...) format string?

Question

What is a culture-invariant way of constructing a string such that the Javascript Date() constructor can parse it and create the proper date object?

I have tried these format strings which don't work (using C# to generate the strings):

clientDate.ToString();
// gives: "11/05/2009 17:35:23 +00:00"

clientDate.ToString("MMM' 'dd', 'yyyy' 'h':'mm':'ss' 'tt");
// works on an English server
// but on a French server, gives: "mai 11, 2009 5:35:23"
// Javascript won't parse that.

clientDate.ToString("MM'-'dd'-'yyyy' 'HH':'mm':'ss")
// gives: 05-11-2009 17:35:23

What is the universal format??

I need to emit a string to the browser so I can then use Javascript to localize the string, using Javascript's toLocaleString() function. However, I've had difficulty figuring out a successful, single string format that will be emitted by all my servers. — Jeff Meatball Yang, Jul 06 '09 at 21:00

score 19 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 07 '21 at 05:49

According to MDC:

Given a string representing a time, parse returns the time value. It accepts the IETF standard (RFC 1123 Section 5.2.14 and elsewhere) date syntax: "Mon, 25 Dec 1995 13:30:00 GMT". It understands the continental US time-zone abbreviations, but for general use, use a time-zone offset, for example, "Mon, 25 Dec 1995 13:30:00 GMT+0430" (4 hours, 30 minutes east of the Greenwich meridian). If you do not specify a time zone, the local time zone is assumed. GMT and UTC are considered equivalent.

If you can’t generate this format using english locale, try to use Date.UTC

RFC 1123 to the rescue! Thanks Maciej! – Jeff Meatball Yang Jul 06 '09 at 19:48 — Jeff Meatball Yang, Jul 06 '09 at 19:48

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 31 '12 at 07:43

1

If you want a locale-independent format Javascript can parse, you can use 2013-03-31T16:36:57+0900. It works at least in Node.js and Chrome, so I suspect it's standard.

answered Mar 31 '12 at 07:43

jcayzac

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Does not work on Android 2.2 (works on 2.3 and higher). Does not work on any iOS device (tested 5.0 and 6.0). – Patrick Boos Oct 18 '12 at 03:33
How about `2013-03-31T16:36:57Z` then? Works here on iOS. Difference is the time must now be GMT. – jcayzac Oct 31 '12 at 06:46
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If only it were that simple... That format (it's called ISO-8601) won't work in IE8 either. – Keegan Quinn Mar 18 '13 at 19:33

The correct Javascript Date.parse(...) format string?

2 Answers2

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