date format yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ

Question

I assume this should be pretty simple, but could not get it :(. In this format Z is time zone.
T is long time pattern
How could I get a date in this format except by using

DateTime dt = DateTime.Now;
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ"));

in C#

I know this question has been around for 9 years but the accepted answer of `UtcNow.ToString(s)+Z` is the wrong one. ISO8601 is supported by the [RoundTrip](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/standard-date-and-time-format-strings#the-round-trip-o-o-format-specifier) option `ToString("O")`. Also to point out that the accepted answer uses the UTC value of the datetime, which would always give timezone Z, rather than just using the actual datetime value, which (if Kind=Local) may contain a daylight saving timezone. Consider changing the accepted answer? — Richardissimo, May 07 '18 at 06:15

Chris S · Accepted Answer · 2009-11-13T12:55:02.077

176

Using UTC

ISO 8601 (MSDN datetime formats)

Console.WriteLine(DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("s") + "Z");

2009-11-13T10:39:35Z

The Z is there because

If the time is in UTC, add a 'Z' directly after the time without a space. 'Z' is the zone designator for the zero UTC offset. "09:30 UTC" is therefore represented as "09:30Z" or "0930Z". "14:45:15 UTC" would be "14:45:15Z" or "144515Z".

If you want to include an offset

int hours = TimeZoneInfo.Local.BaseUtcOffset.Hours;
string offset = string.Format("{0}{1}",((hours >0)? "+" :""),hours.ToString("00"));
string isoformat = DateTime.Now.ToString("s") + offset;
Console.WriteLine(isoformat);

Two things to note: + or - is needed after the time but obviously + doesn't show on positive numbers. According to wikipedia the offset can be in +hh format or +hh:mm. I've kept to just hours.

As far as I know, RFC1123 (HTTP date, the "u" formatter) isn't meant to give time zone offsets. All times are intended to be GMT/UTC.

edited Nov 13 '09 at 12:55

answered Nov 13 '09 at 10:38

Chris S

64,770
52
221
239

Cool. Your output doesn't include the TZ offset, though? – Neil Barnwell Nov 13 '09 at 10:39
I added it in - the docs say the 's' format is **based** on ISO8601 I don't think it includes the timezone. – Chris S Nov 13 '09 at 10:43
Oh of course, UTC doesn't have timezones. D'oh. He is asking for timezone info in his output. Maybe the DateTimeOffset is what he's looking for? – Neil Barnwell Nov 13 '09 at 10:47
8

Adding Z there manually is not good, you should use .ToString("o") because it will give you the proper output. If milliseconds are problem, they should be rounded. Adding Z manually can give incorrect result if you add it to local time, which isn't really UTC. – Tuukka Lindroos Sep 08 '15 at 18:56

score 94 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 09 '12 at 19:22

94

Console.WriteLine(DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("o"));  
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString("o"));

Outputs:

2012-07-09T19:22:09.1440844Z  
2012-07-09T12:22:09.1440844-07:00

answered Jul 09 '12 at 19:22

Rami A.

10,302
4
44
87

I used Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString("o"));. Thanks – Ziggler Apr 22 '15 at 17:20
5

The accepted answer says to use format specifier "s" and append a Z on the end for UTC dates. That's all good and fine if you don't need the milliseconds, but if you want the milliseconds you have to use "o" like this answer shows. With "o", the milliseconds show up by default and the Z is already appended on the end for UTC dates. – Jim Oct 29 '15 at 15:06
1

DateTime.Now.ToString("o") Solves all kind of problems because it return the right offset with it. – Mo Zaatar May 05 '17 at 04:21
A possible unintended side-effect of using "o" in the format is that timestamps may sort in non-chronological order because the "o" format truncates zeroes in the milliseconds and Z sorts after 0 (zero). Consider "2020-05-21T00:13:44.52Z" and "2020-05-21T00:13:44.529Z" where the first timestamp should be before the second, but alpha-numberically, it is not. – tiwahu Jun 01 '21 at 16:27

score 17 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 09 '16 at 03:39

"o" format is different for DateTime vs DateTimeOffset :(

DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("o") -> "2016-03-09T03:30:25.1263499Z"

DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.ToString("o") -> "2016-03-09T03:30:46.7775027+00:00"

My final answer is

DateTimeOffset.UtcDateTime.ToString("o")   //for DateTimeOffset type
DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("o")              //for DateTime type

score 15 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 04 '17 at 21:25

15

In C# 6+ you can use string interpolation and make this more terse:

$"{DateTime.UtcNow:s}Z"

answered Oct 04 '17 at 21:25

Todd Menier

37,557
17
150
173

you saved my lot's of time. Simple and sweet solution. – Raju Paladiya Dec 02 '19 at 11:18

score 8 · Answer 5 · edited Jan 07 '15 at 15:45

8

Single Line code for this.

var temp   =  DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH\\:mm\\:ssZ");

edited Jan 07 '15 at 15:45

Mathias Müller

22,203
13
58
75

answered Jan 07 '15 at 15:26

Vivek Samele

340
4
8

1

"\\" for ":" are unnecessary. – diegodsp Nov 10 '21 at 21:05

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 13 '09 at 10:42

7

Look here at "u" and "s" patterns. First is without 'T' separator, and the second one is without timezone suffix.

answered Nov 13 '09 at 10:42

HolisticElastic

937
8
17

score 7 · Answer 7 · answered May 26 '21 at 10:19

7

Use:

DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss.fffZ")

The outcome is : 2021-05-26T10:17:38.549Z

answered May 26 '21 at 10:19

anil shrestha

2,136
2
12
26

"hh" is the 12-hour format and not ISO 8601-compliant. If that were intended, you would need to insert "tt" to indicate AM/PM. The simple fix is to use "HH" which is the 24-hour format. – user1050483 Feb 10 '23 at 18:19

score 6 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 31 '16 at 20:18

6

One option could be converting DateTime to ToUniversalTime() before converting to string using "o" format. For example,

var dt = DateTime.Now.ToUniversalTime();
Console.WriteLine(dt.ToString("o"));

It will output:

2016-01-31T20:16:01.9092348Z

answered Jan 31 '16 at 20:18

Khalil

139
2
1

score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 28 '16 at 15:41

It works fine with Salesforce REST API query datetime formats

DateTime now = DateTime.UtcNow;
string startDate = now.AddDays(-5).ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH\\:mm\\:ssZ");   
string endDate = now.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH\\:mm\\:ssZ");  
//REST service Query 
string salesforceUrl= https://csxx.salesforce.com//services/data/v33.0/sobjects/Account/updated/?start=" + startDate + "&end=" + endDate;

// https://csxx.salesforce.com/services/data/v33.0/sobjects/Account/updated/?start=2015-03-10T15:15:57Z&end=2015-03-15T15:15:57Z

It returns the results from Salesforce without any issues.

score -10 · Answer 10 · answered Nov 13 '09 at 10:39

-10

You could split things up, it would require more code but would work just the way you like it:

DateTime year = DateTime.Now.Year;
DateTime month = DateTime.Now.Month;
DateTime day = DateTime.Now.Day;

ect.

finally:

Console.WriteLine(year+month+day+etc.);

This is a very bold way of handling it though...

answered Nov 13 '09 at 10:39

Pieter888

4,882
13
53
74

This answer produces nothing like the desired output – cja Oct 24 '14 at 14:54
This didnot provide what the question or I wanted... -1 – Ziggler Apr 22 '15 at 17:21

date format yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ

10 Answers10

Using UTC

If you want to include an offset

Linked

Related