Date Time Format is not Formatting

Question

I need have this format : aaaa-mm-jjThh:mm:sszzzzzz

And put it in a XML property "DateTime" type.

So, I did it :

var xmlObj= new xmlObj.tHeader();
xmlObj.prop = DateTime.ParseExact(DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss'Z'"), "yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss'Z'", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Console.WriteLine(xmlObj.prop);

The Console.WriteLine instruction return : 03/05/2016 15:43:10

I don't understand why the property remove the format.

In the XSD, this property is waiting a datetime format.

Any ideas?

EDIT :

Ok, on the command result, I see a default format but If convert my XML object to File, the format is correct :

Very strange... but it's ok now. Many thanks to all of you

Do you need the speech marks or is yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ fine? — Alfie Goodacre, May 03 '16 at 15:46
At the start, I have an XSD file. Then I use the command "xsd.exe" for create the "file.cs". And this is what I use — Portekoi, May 03 '16 at 15:52
I've made an edit of my question. Command line is formatting the date, I think — Portekoi, May 03 '16 at 16:03
There are plenty of questions complaining that `ToString` does not perfectly match one's expectations about how object should be represented... Have you ever tried `(new int[]{1,3}).ToString()`? - this is exactly the same as your question which is essentially - "I don't like how `DateTime` formatted by default. What should I do?" — Alexei Levenkov, May 03 '16 at 16:38
[Console.WriteLine basics](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30413683/console-writeline-basics) may be good duplicate for your question if you like it. — Alexei Levenkov, May 03 '16 at 16:41
Sorry, do not know about it... Down vote for my question... wow... — Portekoi, May 03 '16 at 19:43

Jon B · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-03T16:04:21.883

2

You are calling DateTime.ParseExact, which parses a string into a DateTime object. Just drop that part and assign the result of ToString directly to xmlObj.prop, or assign the DateTime object directly (if that's what it's looking for).

Edit:

To address your edit, your XML file is generated correctly. However, when you output the DateTime prop to the console, it uses the default string format for a date. You can format that with ToString() if you want to.

edited May 03 '16 at 16:04

answered May 03 '16 at 15:49

Jon B

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I can't : I have the error "Cannot convert a string to datetime" – Portekoi May 03 '16 at 15:50
If it's expecting a `DateTime`, skip the formatting entirely and assign the date value directly. – Jon B May 03 '16 at 15:51
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What you're doing in your code is making a round-trip conversion between a `DateTime` and a `String` - which has no actual effect. – Jon B May 03 '16 at 15:52
Even I put this : xmlObj.prop = DateTime.UtcNow; //I have the same issue – Portekoi May 03 '16 at 15:54
I've made an edit of my question. Command line is formatting the date, I think – Portekoi May 03 '16 at 16:02

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 03 '16 at 15:48

1

You try this:

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

answered May 03 '16 at 15:48

R.You

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This is ok but if I try to put it in 'prop', I have the error "Unable to convert a string to DateTime" – Portekoi May 03 '16 at 15:52

Mostafiz · Answer 3 · 2016-05-03T16:47:35.287

0

Your format is wrong in parse, if you want yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssz format then you have to convert it as string otherwise, it will represent standard datetime, try this

xmlObj.prop = DateTime.ParseExact(DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ"), "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Console.WriteLine(xmlObj.prop.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssz"));

edited May 03 '16 at 16:47

answered May 03 '16 at 15:47

Mostafiz

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I've try your suggestion but no effect – Portekoi May 03 '16 at 15:49
if `xmlObj.prop` is datetime type then you have to cast it your desire type string otherwise it will always print the datetime as your system datetime format – Mostafiz May 03 '16 at 15:56
I've made an edit of my question. Command line is formatting the date, I think – Portekoi May 03 '16 at 16:02
Suggestion to format local time as Utc is really questionable. – Alexei Levenkov May 03 '16 at 16:34

Date Time Format is not Formatting

3 Answers3