Use DateTimeOffset in a DateTimePicker and Grid

Environment

Product

DateTimePicker for Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core, Grid for Progress Telerik UI for ASP.NET Core

Description

The DateTimeOffset structure represents a new date-time data structure which defines a point relative to the UTC time zone. However, neither databases nor JS are able of storing this structure as is since the DateTimeOffset is serialized as an object. On the other hand, the UI for ASP.NET Core components which use dates strongly depend on the JavaScript Date type API which means that they need to work with a JavaScript Date.

The default MVC binder is capable of binding a DateTimeOffset only if the submitted parameter is in the 2017-04-17T05:04:18.070Z format. In other words, if the UI for ASP.NET Core components implement the DateTimeOffset overload, their use will be limited to only the above format or a custom binder would be required.

Solution

Map database models with DateTimeOffset fields to view models with DateTime fields and use those view models in the UI for ASP.NET MVC and Core components. AutoMapper is a popular third-party library that can map the models as shown below

• Install AutoMapper from NuGet Package Manager or from the package manager console:.

    PM> Install-Package AutoMapper

Upon a successful installation, the csproj file should include a similar package:

    <PackageReference Include="AutoMapper" Version="9.0.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="AutoMapper.Extensions.Microsoft.DependencyInjection" Version="7.0.0" />

• Add a Mapping profile class that inherits from AutoMapper.Profile and list the required mappings.

    public class MappingProfile : Profile
    {
        public MappingProfile()
        {
            CreateMap<Car, CarViewModel>();
            CreateMap<CarViewModel, Car>();
            CreateMap<DateTime, DateTimeOffset>();
            CreateMap<DateTimeOffset, DateTime>();
        }
    }

    public class Car
    {
        public DateTimeOffset ProductionDate { get; set; }
    }

    public class CarViewModel
    {
        public DateTime ProductionDate { get; set; }
    }

    using AutoMapper;

    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        private readonly IMapper mapper;


        public HomeController(IMapper mapper, CarsService service)
        {
            this.mapper = mapper;
            this.service = service;
        }


        // to bind the model to any UI for ASP.NET Date/Time picker in the Index.cshtmls view
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            return View(mapper.Map<CarViewModel>(cars.FirstOrDefault()));
        }

        // to use DateTimeOffset in the context of the Ajax() bound grid
        public ActionResult AllCars([DataSourceRequest] DataSourceRequest request)
        {
            // map the database models to the viewmodels
            var result = cars.Select(car => mapper.Map<CarViewModel>(car));
            // call the ToDataSourceResult() extension method over the mapped collection
            return Json(result.ToDataSourceResult(request));
        }
    }

For the complete implementation refer to this GitHub project.