Parsing Dates using JSON.NET

Question

I am using JSON.NET's LINQ to JSON to parse data, which includes dates. My sample JSON looks like this:

{"2013" : [
    { "date":"2/5/2013 11:13 AM","id":23 }],
"2012" : [
    { "date":"28/9/2012 5:29 PM","id":24 }]
}

The format of the date is in d/m/yyyy h:mm. I tried parsing it first using DateTime.Parse:

var postTitles = jobject.Children().SelectMany(x => x.First).
    Select(p =>
    new Report
        {
            Date = DateTime.Parse((string)p["date"]),
            Height = (int)p["height"]
        });

However, it throws a FormatException on the second date so I tried using DateTime.ParseExact instead:

var postTitles = jobject.Children().SelectMany(x => x.First).
    Select(p =>
    new Report
        {
            Date = DateTime.ParseExact(p["date"].ToString(), "dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm", new
                CultureInfo("en-US")),
            Height = (int)p["height"]
        });

This time, I get a FormatException on the first date. Are there any alternatives on how to parse this dates? I tried using Extension Methods as I am used to doing XML but it seems my extension methods are not recognized.

Jon Skeet · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-16 11:14:01Z

4

Your format string for ParseExact is very broken. Basically, you really need to pay attention to the format of your actual data, and look at the MSDN documentation for custom date/time strings. You can't just put any old pattern in and expect it to work: it's got to match your data.

So you probably want a format string of "d/M/yyyy h:mm tt". I would also suggest using the invariant culture:

Date = DateTime.ParseExact(p["date"].ToString(), "d/M/yyyy h:mm tt",
                           CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

(The invariant culture is mostly the same as the US culture, but the important aspect is that it indicates that this is intended for machine-generated data rather than genuinely US-centric data.)

There may well be a better way of doing this in JSON.NET, but that should at least be a starting point.

edited Jul 16, 2013 at 11:14

answered Jul 16, 2013 at 10:22

Jon Skeet

1.5m893 gold badges9.3k silver badges9.3k bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

6 Comments

CCCC Over a year ago

Can you please enlighten me with regards to format string? I'm quite confused as the sample usage in the MSDN documentation are for ToString.

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@CCCC: It's hard to give you any further enlightenment without knowing where your confusion is.

CCCC Over a year ago

From what I understand, the format specifiers extract specific parts of the date like month, day, and year, which would require a properly formatted date. The thing that I am trying to do is convert the data found in the JSON file to a properly formatted date.

Jon Skeet Over a year ago

@CCCC: The format specifiers basically describe the format of your data. I've only just noticed an earlier edit removed the sample format - I've reinstated that part, but really you should look carefully through the documentation, and look at the format you were providing vs the format which your data is actually in... they're very different.

CCCC Over a year ago

I'm sorry for the confusion, I pasted the wrong snippet as I was trying to work on other data to test if there was something wrong with my formatting. Corrected it as what I used originally.

|

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Parsing Dates using JSON.NET

1 Answer 1

6 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

6 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related