Is there a way to return DateTime in ISO format from a asp .net web method instead of JSON format?

Question

Currently the web methods or most of the methods in classic asp .net serializes using system.web.script.serialization.javascriptserializer class and this returns the javascript object's datetime members with values such as

"/Date(number of ticks)/"

. I understand this is an infamous problem and most people suggest using some kind of converters after we receive the data or return the data as string instead of objects.

For example the class

public class Person
{
    public String Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
    public DateTime DOB { get; set; }
}

if returned via a System.Web.Services.WebMethod with a [ScriptMethod(ResponseFormat = ResponseFormat.Json)] decoration, the response will be returned as below in result.d

{Name:"Steve", Age:30, DOB:"/Date(1249335477787)/"};

And we need to apply some code to convert the DOB into ISO format or some other acceptable format.

But I am just trying to see if some one has done some kind of response tweaking or using an over-ridden class to return the DateTime values from web methods. Is there a way to over-ride the javascriptserializer's functionality and use it in asp .net web methods so that it returns the date directly in ISO format? I am aware that it can be done in asp .net MVC in a few ways.

Is the same can be done in asp .net web form's web methods? That would save a lot of code and bugs as well :)

Answer 1

I found a trick from http://blog.icanmakethiswork.io/2012/04/beg-steal-or-borrow-decent-javascript.html.

This is to replace the JsonSerializer's own date serializer and use the custom date serializer.

• Override the System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptConverter
• Update web.config section to apply this to whole project or use RegisterConverters function for using it locally

This is able to return me back a ISO formatted date time and I am also able to pass this inside moment js for manipulations inside javascript.