How to use Universal Sortable ("u") Format Specifier in C# for Date and Time

Description

The "u" format is defined by the DateTimeFormatInfo.UniversalSortableDateTimePattern property. The custom format string is "yyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z'".

We have to convert the date and time value to UTC before formatting it. To perform this conversion, DateTime values can call the DateTime.ToUniversalTime method, and DateTimeOffset values can call the ToUniversalTime method.

Example

The following example uses the "u" format specifier to display a date and time value.

// ww  w .  ja  va2  s . c o m
using System;

class MainClass
{

  public static void Main()
  {
        DateTime date1 = new DateTime(2008, 4, 10, 6, 30, 0);
        Console.WriteLine(date1.ToUniversalTime().ToString("u"));
        // Displays 2008-04-10 13:30:00Z   
  }

}

The code above generates the following result.