How to assign value to metadata field of date or number type?

Question

I am using the following link's code to process metadata fields:-

https://code.google.com/p/tridion-practice/wiki/ChangeContentOrMetadata

But when I try to assign value to metadata field of date type then I am getting the following xml validation error:-

" System.ServiceModel.FaultException`1 [myPorject.serviceReference.CoreServiceFault]: XML validation error. Reason: The 'uuid:myUUID:dateField' element is invalid - The value '10/4/2012 03:04:00 AM' is invalid according to its datatype 'http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema:dateTime' - The string '10/4/2012 03:04:00 AM' is not a valid DateTime value.. (Fault Detail is equal to myPorject.serviceReference.CoreServiceFault)"

No matter whether I assign the value as string or DateTime data type I am getting the same error, I have also tried to overload the AddValue method with a Datetime data type but nothing has worked so far.

AddValue method's code snippet:-

     public void AddValue(string value1)
    {
        string value = string.IsNullOrEmpty(value1) ? null : value1; ;
        XmlElement newElement = fields.AddFieldElement(definition);
        if (value != null) newElement.InnerText = value;
    }

Please suggest solution for both Date and Number data type. Thanks in advance

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 03 '12 at 11:13

6

The error message is quite explicit about the fact that your date format is wrong: The string '10/4/2012 03:04:00 AM' is not a valid DateTime value.

The format Tridion expects is YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss, so no space, no time-zone and no AM/PM marker.

In official Tridion APIs you are typically shielded from having to do the conversion yourself, since they accept DateTime objects and convert it to the correct format for you. But since the helper class you use is not an official API, it takes a few shortcuts and makes you set the value as a string.

I typically use datetime.ToString("u").Replace(" ", "T").Replace("Z", "") to get the dates in the right format.

answered Oct 03 '12 at 11:13

Frank van Puffelen

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datetime.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss") – Peter Kjaer Oct 04 '12 at 09:46
But I really like that magic **"u"** in my variant. It sends those reading the code running for the API docs - or is that just in my imagination? ;-) – Frank van Puffelen Oct 08 '12 at 01:15
yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss" – Chris Mills Nov 18 '20 at 15:08

Puntero · Answer 2 · 2012-10-03T08:46:01.450

5

The date String should have a format like:

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss

Example:

"2012-10-03T09:39:43"

In addition to that, the way you are setting the date seems a bit complex to me, given that you are using the Content and Metadata wrapper, why not something like this:

string myStringDate = "2012-10-03T09:39:43";
fields["DateFieldName"].Value = myStringDate;
component.Metadata = fields.ToString();

edited Oct 03 '12 at 08:46

answered Oct 03 '12 at 08:03

Puntero

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I think this issue is not related with format of date because if I create a multi media compoment manually and preview its metadata fields then date field has value in fromat of "mm/d/yyyy h:MM:ss tt" for ex:- 10/9/2012 5:11:54 PM but if I try to assign date in this format then even I'm getting the same exception. – SDL Developer Oct 03 '12 at 08:27
2

The fact that preview shows the date in a different format comes from the fact that your template code outputs in that format. Internally it is stored with a `T` instead of a space and in 24-hour format instead of with `AM/PM`. Just try Puntero's code and you'll realize he is right after all. – Frank van Puffelen Oct 03 '12 at 11:02
yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss" – Chris Mills Nov 18 '20 at 15:09

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 03 '12 at 05:44

2

As per my C# experience such error comes due to datetime format issue . you can try below code

DateTime.Now.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

I have not tested it with your code but hope it will work in your case.

answered Oct 03 '12 at 05:44

Ram Saurabh

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No, it is not related with formatting of date, I've already tried this. – SDL Developer Oct 03 '12 at 05:55
@Ram: I typically us `datetime.ToString("u").Replace(" ", "T").Replace("Z", "")` to get the dates in the right format. – Frank van Puffelen Oct 03 '12 at 11:05
Thanks Frank for knowledge addition :-) – Ram Saurabh Oct 03 '12 at 11:19

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 03 '12 at 11:09

You are missing the 'T' separator between the date and time in your format. You did mention that the date that's output is in a format that you're trying to reinsert, but whatever is output can be formatted in anyway, and not necessarily the way you have to specify the date.

Have a close read to the XMLSchema dateTime specification here: http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/#dateTime

SDL Developer · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-04T10:15:24.503

0

After some trouble shooting I finally resolve the issue and along with format of date. For this I need to match the time zone of my local machine with the server's Time zone.

And below is the code of overloaded method:-

      public void AddValue(DateTime value1)
    {
        DateTime value = value1 == null ? DateTime.MinValue : value1;

        XmlElement newElement = fields.AddFieldElement(definition);
        if (value != null) newElement.InnerText = value.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss");
    }

edited Oct 04 '12 at 10:15

answered Oct 04 '12 at 08:24

SDL Developer

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You just need to make sure that the time you specify is in the time zone of the server. One way of doing that is by setting your local machine to the same time zone as the server, but there are definitely other ways (e.g. doing some simple time zone math) that don't require you to change the machine settings. – Frank van Puffelen Oct 04 '12 at 11:58
yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss" – Chris Mills Nov 18 '20 at 15:07

How to assign value to metadata field of date or number type?

5 Answers5