Date formats inconsistant between javascript and c# models

Question

**UPDATE

I just realized that the date is not getting data-binded during post at all, unless I use firefox.

Why would the browser affect the databinding on server side?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills

My problem is that I have a JQuery date picker that seems to be formatted the right way (mm/dd/yyyy) but when the value gets posted to the server, the months and days are switched.

The date property is added to the page like this (it's hidden just so it can bind during posts. The problem is the same if it were a simple text box):

<input type="hidden" name="SearchByDate" id="SearchByDate" value="<%: ((DateTime)Model.SearchByDate).ToString(Web.Common.Config.GetDateFormatBase) %>" />

In my view model, I specify the date format like this:

    [DisplayFormat(DataFormatString = Common.Config.GetDateFormat, 
        ApplyFormatInEditMode = true)]
    public DateTime? SearchByDate { get; set; }

My javascript datepicker is formatted like this:

        $("#appointmentDateDiv").datepicker({
------>     dateFormat: "<%= Web.Common.Config.GetDateFormatJavascript %>",
            changeMonth: true,
            onSelect: function (dateText, inst) {
                $("#SearchByDate").val(dateText);
                $("form").submit();
            }
        });

I actually sepcify the formats in a common class like this:

public const string GetDateFormatBase = @"MM/dd/yyyy";
public const string GetDateFormat = @"{0:" + GetDateFormatBase + "}"; //This is for annotations
public const string GetDateFormatJavascript = "mm/dd/yy";

As you can see, the formats are all the sam:month day year. Everything looks good when I first load a page like this, so the datepicker lets me select a date in the right format. Then I post and if I step through my code everything still looks fine. I even re-format the date to make sure before I return to the view. But the month and day always get switched.

The strangest thing though, is that everythiing works fine in Firefox. It fails in IE, Chrome, and Opera. But I can't see why...

What language settings are you using in IE? What is the language of the server hosting the website? — John Koerner
– John Koerner, Commented May 25, 2012 at 17:27
Who says mm/dd/yyyy is the "right" way? The way you want it, maybe, but only right in some places. — tomfanning
– tomfanning, Commented May 25, 2012 at 17:27
Yes, by "right" way I meanright for this particular project in that I want to keep all the dates consistent. My question is purely about keeping consistent dates/posting problems with different browsers. I doesnt matter to me if I was using yyyy/mm/yyyy, but if it randomly switched to mm/yyyy/yyyy, it wouyldn't be "right" — getit
– getit, Commented May 25, 2012 at 20:09
@JohnKoerner the language in IE is set to English (Canada) [en-CA]. I' just trying this using the integrated development server and I haven't added anything regarding localization the the project yet. Everything is defaulted to english as far as I can tell, but the main issue I have right now is that IE simply won't bind that particalur SearchByDate value. — getit
– getit, Commented May 25, 2012 at 20:13
I really think this is an I18N problem. Since you are using the ASP.Net development server, that will probably default to your OS language. Depending on the culture settings for that language, it might be expecting the dates as dd/mm/yyyy — John Koerner
– John Koerner, Commented May 25, 2012 at 23:56

getit · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-28 13:10:36Z

Thanks, for the help guys.

@JohnKoerner, you were right, it was a l18n problem. My Firefox was set to en-US and my other browsers were en-CA. I didn't think they'd be different date formats but they were. This caused problems during model-binding. My solution was to use invariant culture to parse all dates in a custom model binder. I got the idea from here.

But, I was already using a different model-binder from here. And I modified the relevant piece of code like this

retVal = (Nullable<T>)value.ConvertTo(typeof(T), CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

where T would we the datetime that is being parsed.

Another thing was to make sure to register the custom model binder for both DateTime and DateTime? like this:

ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(DateTime), new DateTimeModelBinder());
ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(DateTime?), new DateTimeModelBinder());

MikeTWebb · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-25 17:26:02Z

0

You could use String.Format in the hidden field:

<input type="hidden" name="SearchByDate" id="SearchByDate" value="<%:
String.Format("{0:MM/dd/yyyy}",Model.SearchByDate) %>" />

answered May 25, 2012 at 17:26

MikeTWebb

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1 Comment

getit Over a year ago

I just tried that and it's the same problem. I now just realized that I think the issue is with the actual databinding. Please see edit in main post

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