How to serialize Xml Date only from DateTime in C#

Question

I've the following simple class;

Birthdays
{
  public DateTime DateOfBirth {get;set;}
  public string Name {get;set;}
}

I then serialise my object to Xml using;

try
{
   XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(obj.GetType());
            
   using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
   {
        XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();

        serializer.Serialize(ms, obj);
        ms.Position = 0;
        xmlDoc.Load(ms);
        return xmlDoc;
    }
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    ....
}

The problem I have is that when the Xml is returned the DateOfBirth format is like 2012-11-14T00:00:00 and not 2012-11-14.

How can I override it so that I'm only returning the date part ?

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:00:25Z

31

You should use the XmlElementAttribute.DataType property and specify date.

public class Birthdays
{
  [XmlElement(DataType="date")]
  public DateTime DateOfBirth {get;set;}
  public string Name {get;set;}
}

Using this outputs

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?>
<Birthdays xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <DateOfBirth>2013-11-14</DateOfBirth>
  <Name>John Smith</Name>
</Birthdays>

Another option is to use a string property just for serialization (backed by a DateTime property you use), as at Force XmlSerializer to serialize DateTime as 'YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss' (this is needed for DataContractSerializer, where the xs:date type is not as well-supported)

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:00

CommunityBot

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answered Nov 14, 2013 at 16:51

Tim S.

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1 Comment

Ole Albers Over a year ago

better than my answer I have to admit :)

terrybozzio · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-14 16:49:54Z

-2

Try this example out:

        string date = "2012-11-14T00:00:00";

        string result = DateTime.Parse(date).ToShortDateString();

        //or....

        DateTime dateTime = new DateTime();

        dateTime = DateTime.Parse(date);
        //now its only use dateTime.Date

answered Nov 14, 2013 at 16:49

terrybozzio

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5 Comments

Ole Albers Over a year ago

(second part:) Would cut off any existing time, but still "dateTime" has the 00:00 Time. Would not change a thing.

terrybozzio Over a year ago

thats why i commented use datetime.Date.

Ole Albers Over a year ago

But still: The xml would look just like before

terrybozzio Over a year ago

if the problem is in wants serialized then not mine not yours but tim S.(for a single property result i mean).my answer is to not rewrite the class(although it is the best solution),and just "get" the desired formatt.

Chuck Savage Over a year ago

Helped me get there for XElement save of just the date, thanks.

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