DateTimeConverter Class Reference

Table of Contents

The DateTimeConverter class contains some useful helper methods to interact with Facebook's date and time format. Below you will find several common uses of this object.

Always make sure that the .NET DateTime is in UTC format before conversion.

Get the Epoch Date and Time

DateTime epoch = DateTimeConverter.Epoch;

Convert from Unix time to .NET DateTime

//From double to .NET UTC DateTime:
DateTime result = DateTimeConvertor.FromUnixTime(1327774473);

//From string to .NET UTC DateTime:
DateTime result = DateTimeConvertor.FromUnixTime("1327774473");

Convert from .NET UTC DateTime to Unix time

// From UTC DateTime
DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(2012, 1, 28, 18, 14, 33, DateTimeKind.Utc);
double unixTime = DateTimeConvertor.ToUnixTime(dateTime);

Convert from .NET DateTimeOffset to Unix time

Most of the the date and time used in Facebook requires the unix time to be expressed in Pacific Daylight Time. You can use -25200 as an offset for Pacific Daylight Time.

// From DateTimeOffset
DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(2012, 04, 05, 06, 33, 57);
int pdtOffset = -25200; // pacific daylight time offset in seconds
DateTimeOffset = new DateTimeOffset(dateTime, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(pdtOffset));
double unixTime = DateTimeConvertor.ToUnixTime(dateTimeOffset);

Convert .NET UTC DateTime to ISO8601 Formatted Date and Time String

DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(2012, 1, 28, 18, 14, 33, DateTimeKind.Utc);
string iso8601FormattedDateTime = DateTimeConvertor.ToIso8601FormattedDateTime(dateTime);
// iso8601FormattedDateTime = "2012-01-28T18:14:33Z"

Convert from ISO8601 Date and Time from String to .NET UTC DateTime

DateTime dateTime = DateTimeConvertor.FromIso8601FormattedDateTime("2012-01-28T18:14:33Z");