How do I get .Net XML deserialization to preserve DateTimeKind?

Question

I have an XML string with the following date: 2001-01-01T03:40:00Z

Note how it ends with Z, to indicate UTC.

I deserialize like so:

using (StringReader stringReader = new StringReader(xmlString))
    using (XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stringReader))
        obj = (MyObject)sr.ReadObject(xmlReader);

But when I go to the corresponding DateTime fields in the resulting object, the Kind field is set to "Unspecified" rather than "Utc" which is what it should be. How do I work around this bug?

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:33

2

The Kind field doesn't have a setter so the XmlSerializer won't be able to set it.

Many recommend always serializing the time as UTC and then calling ToLocalTime if you need it.

See this.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:33

Community

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answered Mar 12 '11 at 00:10

Austin Salonen

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This is how we do it, and it works pretty well. The data itself always remains generic, and any views can reflect whatever time zone the system is set to. – drharris Mar 12 '11 at 07:16

How do I get .Net XML deserialization to preserve DateTimeKind?

1 Answers1