Can configure the CLR type for XML Datetime

[emmanuelbenitez]

We would like to have possibility the generate class having DateTimeOffset when the XML element type is datetime.

[mganss]

AFAICT XmlSerializer doesn't support DateTimeOffset.

[emmanuelbenitez]

You're right but it is possible create your own IXmlSerializable.

• Example of implementation
• Exemple of usage line 75

[mganss]

Can you provide an example how this would work with DateTimeOffset?

[emmanuelbenitez]

This link provide a good sample: link

[mganss]

This means we would have to make the type configurable as a string, e.g. MyTypes.MyDateTimeOffset. Currently types are handled internally as objects of Type, i.e. the type needs to be known at compile time. Or do you think this could be handled differently?

[bcallaghan-et]

This seems like a good fit for the MemberVisitor action that can be specified on the Generator. I tried to use the visitor pattern to configure xs:date as SQL date and xs:dateTime as SQL datetime2(0) using the Column attribute. Unfortunately, I discovered that the Nullable<DateTime> property can't be visited. Please allow the nullable property to be visited, since that's the one that Entity Framework can actually use.

[mganss]

@bcallaghan-et This should be possible now.

[bcallaghan-et]

@mganss Yes, I can now configure the column type of the Nullable<DateTime> properties through MemberVisitor. Thanks!

[heggi]

I think we need a flag that will replace standard generated code

[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElement("RequestTime")]
public System.DateTime RequestTime { get; set; }

with workaround code

[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlIgnore]
public System.DateTimeOffset RequestTime { get; set; }

[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlElement("RequestTime")]
public string RequestTimeString {
       get => RequestTimeOffset.ToString("o");
       set => RequestTimeOffset = System.DateTimeOffset.Parse(value);
}

[mganss]

@heggi Wouldn't this also have to account for the different XML schema types in the ToString() call (date, time, datetime)? Also, we might want to use TryParse(). Can you make a PR?

[fgheysels]

Any update on this ? Is this something that is being considered ? I think it makes sense to implement the solution that was posted by @heggi here

[mganss]

No, at least I'm not working on it. I'm open to PRs though.

[fgheysels]

AFAICT XmlSerializer doesn't support DateTimeOffset.

That no longer holds true. I've created a small sample (.NET 6)

using System.Xml.Serialization;

XmlSerializer serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(TestClass));
using (var fs = new FileStream(@"c:\temp\serializerdatetime.xml", FileMode.Create))
{
    var tc = new TestClass()
    {
        Id = 5,
        Timestamp = new DateTimeOffset(2023, 12, 1, 8, 0, 0, TimeSpan.FromHours(4))
    };
    serializer.Serialize( fs,tc);
}

public class TestClass
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public DateTimeOffset Timestamp { get; set; }
}

This results in this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TestClass xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Id>5</Id>
  <Timestamp>2023-12-01T08:00:00+04:00</Timestamp>
</TestClass>

As you can see, the timezone information is serialized in the Xml.

I did the other way around as well:

using (var fs = new FileStream(@"c:\temp\serializerdatetime.xml", FileMode.Open))
{
    var result = (TestClass)serializer.Deserialize(fs);

    Console.WriteLine(result.Timestamp);
}

this results in

1/12/2023 8:00:00 +04:00

So this means that it's no longer necessary to implement the work-around solution. This makes it much simpler to implement I believe.