Why doesn't DateTime.ParseExact parse UTC format with the trailing Z?

.net datetime datetime-format datetime-parsing
scope_creep picture scope_creep · Jul 8, 2011 · Viewed 16.3k times · Source

Another ParseExact problem. I'm trying to parse a UTC formatted string to a datetime with the format of:

"YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss.ssZ"

which is in UTC format, with the trailing Z. I can't parse exact it for some reason. I have tried the "u", "s", "o" custom format strings, as well as as several DateTimeStyles and well as handwritten. The culture is invariant.

For some reason it doesn't like the Z, which indicates it's a UTC string. When I remove it, parses. I would happily, with some satisfaction, get rid of the trailing Z as I know they are UTC datetime strings, but I can't. Any ideas?

Answer

svick picture svick · Jul 8, 2011

The format strings you mentioned are standard format strings. You should probably use a custom format string, like this:

DateTime.ParseExact("2011-03-02T20:15:19.64Z", "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss.ffK", null).ToUniversalTime()

If you don't put ToUniversalTime() at the end, the result will be converted to your local time zone.

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