How do I convert Paypal's HH:MM:SS DD Mmm(.) YYYY PST/PDT to a C# UTC DateTime?

Question

I would like to log a payment_date in this format in a SQL Server database.

Update. Instinct was right on this one. Found a solution here: http://w

Answer 1

Assuming you have already parsed the date with DateTime.ParseExact() (or one of the other similar methods) you can call DateTime.ToUniversalTime()

EDIT: perhaps TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeToUtc is more appropriate: The ToUniversalTime method converts a DateTime value from local time to UTC. To convert the time in a non-local time zone to UTC, use the TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTimeToUtc(DateTime, TimeZoneInfo) method. To convert a time whose offset from UTC is known, use the ToUniversalTime method.

Answer 2

This should work

 public static DateTime ConvertPayPalDateTime(string payPalDateTime)
 { 
    CultureInfo enUS = new CultureInfo("en-US");
    // accept a few different date formats because of PST/PDT timezone and slight month difference in sandbox vs. prod.
    string[] dateFormats = { "HH:mm:ss MMM dd, yyyy PST", "HH:mm:ss MMM. dd, yyyy PST", "HH:mm:ss MMM dd, yyyy PDT", "HH:mm:ss MMM. dd, yyyy PDT",
                             "HH:mm:ss dd MMM yyyy PST", "HH:mm:ss dd MMM. yyyy PST", "HH:mm:ss dd MMM yyyy PDT", "HH:mm:ss dd MMM. yyyy PDT"};
    DateTime outputDateTime;

    DateTime.TryParseExact(payPalDateTime, dateFormats, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out outputDateTime);

    // convert to local timezone
    TimeZoneInfo hwZone = TimeZoneInfo.FindSystemTimeZoneById("Pacific Standard Time");

    outputDateTime = TimeZoneInfo.ConvertTime(outputDateTime, hwZone, TimeZoneInfo.Local);

    return outputDateTime;
}

Answer 3

I haven't done any C# since 2006, so this code probably doesn't compile. Test it before you fly!

public static DateTime ConvertPayPalDateTime(string payPalDateTime)
{
  // Get the offset.
  // If C# supports switching on strings, it's probably more sensible to do that.
  int offset;
  if (payPalDateTime.EndsWith(" PDT"))
  {
     offset = 7;
  }
  else if (payPalDateTime.EndsWith(" PST"))
  {
     offset = 8;
  }
  else
  {
    throw some exception;
  }

  // We've "parsed" the time zone, so remove it from the string.
  payPalDatetime = payPalDateTime.Substring(0,payPalDateTime.Length-4);

  // Same formats as above, but with PST/PDT removed.
  string[] dateFormats = { "HH:mm:ss MMM dd, yyyy", "HH:mm:ss MMM. dd, yyyy" };

  // Parse the date. Throw an exception if it fails.
  DateTime ret = DateTime.ParseExact(payPalDateTime, dateFormats, new CultureInfo("en-US"), DateTimeStyles.None, out outputDateTime);

  // Add the offset, and make it a universal time.
  return ret.AddHours(offset).SpecifyKind(DateTimeKind.Universal);
}

Answer 4

The code in this post seems to work fine: http://www.codeillustrator.com/2010/03/converting-paypal-paymentdate-to-net.html

using System;
using System.Globalization;

public static class PayPalTransaction
{
    public static DateTime ConvertPayPalDateTime(string payPalDateTime)
    {
    // accept a few different date formats because of PST/PDT timezone and slight month difference in sandbox vs. prod.
        string[] dateFormats = { "HH:mm:ss MMM dd, yyyy PST", "HH:mm:ss MMM. dd, yyyy PST", "HH:mm:ss MMM dd, yyyy PDT", "HH:mm:ss MMM. dd, yyyy PDT" };
        DateTime outputDateTime;

        DateTime.TryParseExact(payPalDateTime, dateFormats, new CultureInfo("en-US"), DateTimeStyles.None, out outputDateTime);

        // convert to local timezone
        outputDateTime = outputDateTime.AddHours(3);

        return outputDateTime;
    }
}

(answer cross-posted for this similar question: How to cast this date and save to database)