Given a DateTime object, how do I get an ISO 8601

Question

Given:

DateTime.UtcNow

How do I get a string which represents the same value in an ISO 8601-compliant format?

Note that ISO 8601 defines a number of similar formats. The specific format I am looking for is:

yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ

Answer 1

DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("s")

Returns something like 2008-04-10T06:30:00

UtcNow obviously returns a UTC time so there is no harm in:

string.Concat(DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("s"), "Z")

Answer 2

I would just use XmlConvert:

XmlConvert.ToString(DateTime.UtcNow, XmlDateTimeSerializationMode.RoundtripKind);

It will automatically preserve the time zone.

Answer 3

You can get the "Z" (ISO 8601 UTC) with the next code:

Dim tmpDate As DateTime = New DateTime(Now.Ticks, DateTimeKind.Utc)
Dim res as String = tmpDate.toString("o") '2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000Z

Here is why:

The ISO 8601 have some different formats:

DateTimeKind.Local

2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000-07:00

DateTimeKind.Utc

2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000Z

DateTimeKind.Unspecified

2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000

.NET provides us with an enum with those options:

'2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000-07:00
Dim strTmp1 As String = New DateTime(Now.Ticks, DateTimeKind.Local).ToString("o")

'2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000Z
Dim strTmp2 As String = New DateTime(Now.Ticks, DateTimeKind.Utc).ToString("o")

'2009-06-15T13:45:30.0000000
Dim strTmp3 As String = New DateTime(Now.Ticks, DateTimeKind.Unspecified).ToString("o")

Note: If you apply the Visual Studio 2008 "watch utility" to the toString("o") part you may get different results, I don't know if it's a bug, but in this case you have better results using a String variable if you're debugging.

Source: Standard Date and Time Format Strings (MSDN)

Answer 4

The "s" standard format specifier represents a custom date and time format string that is defined by the DateTimeFormatInfo.SortableDateTimePattern property. The pattern reflects a defined standard (ISO 8601), and the property is read-only. Therefore, it is always the same, regardless of the culture used or the format provider supplied. The custom format string is "yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss".

When this standard format specifier is used, the formatting or parsing operation always uses the invariant culture.

– from MSDN

Answer 5

DateTime.UtcNow.ToString("s", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) should give you what you are looking for as the "s" format specifier is described as a sortable date/time pattern; conforms to ISO 8601.

Answer 6

It is interesting that custom format "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssK" (without ms) is the quickest format method.

Also it is interesting that "S" format is slow on Classic and fast on Core...

Of course numbers are very close, between some rows difference is insignificant (tests with suffix _Verify are the same as those that are without that suffix, demonstrates results repeatability)

BenchmarkDotNet=v0.10.5, OS=Windows 10.0.14393
Processor=Intel Core i5-2500K CPU 3.30GHz (Sandy Bridge), ProcessorCount=4
Frequency=3233539 Hz, Resolution=309.2587 ns, Timer=TSC
  [Host] : Clr 4.0.30319.42000, 64bit RyuJIT-v4.6.1637.0
  Clr    : Clr 4.0.30319.42000, 64bit RyuJIT-v4.6.1637.0
  Core   : .NET Core 4.6.25009.03, 64bit RyuJIT


               Method |  Job | Runtime |       Mean |     Error |    StdDev |     Median |        Min |        Max | Rank |  Gen 0 | Allocated |
--------------------- |----- |-------- |-----------:|----------:|----------:|-----------:|-----------:|-----------:|-----:|-------:|----------:|
           CustomDev1 |  Clr |     Clr | 1,089.0 ns | 22.179 ns | 20.746 ns | 1,079.9 ns | 1,068.9 ns | 1,133.2 ns |    8 | 0.1086 |     424 B |
           CustomDev2 |  Clr |     Clr | 1,032.3 ns | 19.897 ns | 21.289 ns | 1,024.7 ns | 1,000.3 ns | 1,072.0 ns |    7 | 0.1165 |     424 B |
     CustomDev2WithMS |  Clr |     Clr | 1,168.2 ns | 16.543 ns | 15.474 ns | 1,168.5 ns | 1,149.3 ns | 1,189.2 ns |   10 | 0.1625 |     592 B |
              FormatO |  Clr |     Clr | 1,563.7 ns | 31.244 ns | 54.721 ns | 1,532.5 ns | 1,497.8 ns | 1,703.5 ns |   14 | 0.2897 |     976 B |
              FormatS |  Clr |     Clr | 1,243.5 ns | 24.615 ns | 31.130 ns | 1,229.3 ns | 1,200.6 ns | 1,324.2 ns |   13 | 0.2865 |     984 B |
       FormatS_Verify |  Clr |     Clr | 1,217.6 ns | 11.486 ns | 10.744 ns | 1,216.2 ns | 1,205.5 ns | 1,244.3 ns |   12 | 0.2885 |     984 B |
        CustomFormatK |  Clr |     Clr |   912.2 ns | 17.915 ns | 18.398 ns |   916.6 ns |   878.3 ns |   934.1 ns |    4 | 0.0629 |     240 B |
 CustomFormatK_Verify |  Clr |     Clr |   894.0 ns |  3.877 ns |  3.626 ns |   893.8 ns |   885.1 ns |   900.0 ns |    3 | 0.0636 |     240 B |
           CustomDev1 | Core |    Core |   989.1 ns | 12.550 ns | 11.739 ns |   983.8 ns |   976.8 ns | 1,015.5 ns |    6 | 0.1101 |     423 B |
           CustomDev2 | Core |    Core |   964.3 ns | 18.826 ns | 23.809 ns |   954.1 ns |   935.5 ns | 1,015.6 ns |    5 | 0.1267 |     423 B |
     CustomDev2WithMS | Core |    Core | 1,136.0 ns | 21.914 ns | 27.714 ns | 1,138.1 ns | 1,099.9 ns | 1,200.2 ns |    9 | 0.1752 |     590 B |
              FormatO | Core |    Core | 1,201.5 ns | 16.262 ns | 15.211 ns | 1,202.3 ns | 1,178.2 ns | 1,225.5 ns |   11 | 0.0656 |     271 B |
              FormatS | Core |    Core |   993.5 ns | 19.272 ns | 24.372 ns |   999.4 ns |   954.2 ns | 1,029.5 ns |    6 | 0.0633 |     279 B |
       FormatS_Verify | Core |    Core | 1,003.1 ns | 17.577 ns | 16.442 ns | 1,009.2 ns |   976.1 ns | 1,024.3 ns |    6 | 0.0674 |     279 B |
        CustomFormatK | Core |    Core |   878.2 ns | 17.017 ns | 20.898 ns |   877.7 ns |   851.4 ns |   928.1 ns |    2 | 0.0555 |     215 B |
 CustomFormatK_Verify | Core |    Core |   863.6 ns |  3.968 ns |  3.712 ns |   863.0 ns |   858.6 ns |   870.8 ns |    1 | 0.0550 |     215 B |

Code:

    public class BenchmarkDateTimeFormat
    {
        public static DateTime dateTime = DateTime.Now;

        [Benchmark]
        public string CustomDev1()
        {
            var d = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
            var sb = new StringBuilder(20);

            sb.Append(d.Year).Append("-");
            if (d.Month <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d.Month).Append("-");
            if (d.Day <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d.Day).Append("T");
            if (d.Hour <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d.Hour).Append(":");
            if (d.Minute <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d.Minute).Append(":");
            if (d.Second <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d.Second).Append("Z");
            var text = sb.ToString();
            return text;
        }

        [Benchmark]
        public string CustomDev2()
        {
            var u = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
            var sb = new StringBuilder(20);
            var y = u.Year;
            var d = u.Day;
            var M = u.Month;
            var h = u.Hour;
            var m = u.Minute;
            var s = u.Second;
            sb.Append(y).Append("-");
            if (M <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(M).Append("-");
            if (d <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d).Append("T");
            if (h <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(h).Append(":");
            if (m <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(m).Append(":");
            if (s <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(s).Append("Z");
            var text = sb.ToString();
            return text;
        }

        [Benchmark]
        public string CustomDev2WithMS()
        {
            var u  = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
            var sb = new StringBuilder(23);
            var y  = u.Year;
            var d  = u.Day;
            var M  = u.Month;
            var h  = u.Hour;
            var m  = u.Minute;
            var s  = u.Second;
            var ms = u.Millisecond;
            sb.Append(y).Append("-");
            if (M <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(M).Append("-");
            if (d <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(d).Append("T");
            if (h <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(h).Append(":");
            if (m <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(m).Append(":");
            if (s <= 9)
                sb.Append("0");
            sb.Append(s).Append(".");
            sb.Append(ms).Append("Z");
            var text = sb.ToString();
            return text;
        }
        [Benchmark]
        public string FormatO()
        {
            var text = dateTime.ToUniversalTime().ToString("o");
            return text;
        }
        [Benchmark]
        public string FormatS()
        {
            var text = string.Concat(dateTime.ToUniversalTime().ToString("s"),"Z");
            return text;
        }

        [Benchmark]
        public string FormatS_Verify()
        {
            var text = string.Concat(dateTime.ToUniversalTime().ToString("s"), "Z");
            return text;
        }

        [Benchmark]
        public string CustomFormatK()
        {
            var text = dateTime.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssK");
            return text;
        }

        [Benchmark]
        public string CustomFormatK_Verify()
        {
            var text = dateTime.ToUniversalTime().ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssK");
            return text;
        }
    }

https://github.com/dotnet/BenchmarkDotNet was used