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

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);
}