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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?

Alex Angas
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scope_creep
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1 Answers1

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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.

Rory
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svick
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    @scope, yes, it does. But the result of the `ParseExact()` above is `2.3.2011 21:15:19` for me (UTC+1), with `DateTimeKind.Local`. To get the UTC time, you have to call `ToUniversalTime()`. – svick Jul 08 '11 at 20:27
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    I'd prefer using the overload that takes `DateTimeStyles` over `ToUniversal`. I'm not sure if `ToUniversal` works correctly around DST switching. – CodesInChaos Oct 09 '12 at 08:44
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    A better solution would be to use `DateTimeStyles.RoundTripKind`. This preserves the `Kind` property, so that you don't need to call ToUniversalTime(); – Joe Oct 09 '12 at 08:47
  • @Joe correct casing: `DateTimeStyles.RoundtripKind` – Zero3 Nov 16 '16 at 13:35