Javascript serialization of DateTime in asp.net is not giving a javascript date object?

When I parse a DateTime to json in .Net it returns a string (i.e. "/Date(1249335194272)/"). How do I make it return a js Date object constructor not wrap in a string?

// js server code
var dteNow = <%= jsonDateNow %>;


// js rendered code
var dteNow = "/Date(1249335477787)/";


// C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

namespace testing{
    public partial class iTaxPrep : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected string jsonDateNow;
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (!IsPostBack)
            {
                jsonDateNow = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(DateTime.Now);

            }
        }
    }
}

Answers:

Thank you for visiting the Q&A section on Magenaut. Please note that all the answers may not help you solve the issue immediately. So please treat them as advisements. If you found the post helpful (or not), leave a comment & I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Method 1

This is a known limitation with JSON. This answer might help you, specifically:

value = new Date(parseInt(value.replace("/Date(", "").replace(")/",""), 10));

Method 2

This seems to work (Thanks Chris S for the idea). In the C# do a replace to remove the string wrapper from around the date object;

    using System.Collections.Generic;
        using System.Linq;
        using System.Web;
        using System.Web.UI;
        using System.Web.Script.Serialization;
        using System.Web.Script.Services;
        using System.Web.Services;
        using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

        namespace test
        {
            [ScriptService]
            public partial class testing: System.Web.UI.Page
            {
                protected string strCaseID;
                protected string jsonCase;

                protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
                {
                    if (!IsPostBack)
                    {
                        strCaseID =Tools.GetQueryObject("id");
                        // get a complex object with dates, string, arrays etc.
                        jsonESHACase = new JavaScriptSerializer().Serialize(objCase.Get(strCaseID ))
                            .Replace(""\/Date(", "new Date(").Replace(")\/"", ")");
                    }
                }
            }
        }

..and after removing the quotes and adding the new prefix to Date this js now works. Hooray!

testCase= <%= jsonESHACase %>;
    if (testCase) {
        document.write(testCase["ClosingDate"].format("MM dd yyyy"));
    }

Method 3

Simple javascript manipulation like this:

function(param){
  var date = new Date(parseInt(param.substr(6)));
  return date;
}

Pass in JSON date as param to the function and it will return a javascript date.

Method 4

With a little string manipulation and an eval you can create a Date object

var dteNow = "/Date(1249335477787)/";
var dteObj = eval("new " + dteNow.replace(///g,""));

Method 5

You can try this:

"MyField: " + string.Format("(function(y,m,d,h,mm,s){{var d=new Date(Date.UTC(y,m-1,d,h,mm,s));return d;}})({0},{1},{2},{3},{4},{5})", d.Year, d.Month, d.Day, d.Hour, d.Minute, d.Second);

This seems to work in FF and IE.

Method 6

Slightly simpler string clean up with RegEx:

var myDate = "\/Date(1508821200000)/";    
var jsDate = new Date(parseInt(myDate.replace(/D/g, '')));

Method 7

Here’s an option using Date.parse and DateTime.ToString:

var lowerBound = new Date(Date.parse("@Model.LowerBound.ToString("MMMM dd, yyyy")"));

If you need time, consider the following. I believe this relies on a newer javascript spec:

var lowerBound = new Date(Date.parse("@Model.LowerBound.ToUniversalTime().ToString("s")"));

Here’s an option using jQuery:(I’m sure there’s a way to add the time here)

var lowerBound = $.datepicker.parseDate('yy-mm-dd', "@Model.LowerBound.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")");

Method 8

I’ve found that this is a useful technique for dealing with this problem:

http://icanmakethiswork.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/beg-steal-or-borrow-decent-javascript.html

It allows DateTimes to be serialised as ISO 8601 date strings which can be used with the JavaScript Date constructor and has the bonus of being human readable.

Method 9

jsonDateNow = String.Format("Date({0},{1},{2})", Date().Now.getYear(), Date().Now.getMonth() -1, Date().Now.getDay());

Method 10

This example works

    JavaScriptSerializer serializer = new JavaScriptSerializer();

    DateTime dt = DateTime.Now;
    DateTime dt1 = dt;

    string jsonDateNow = serializer.Serialize(dt1);

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0