Pass a JSON format DateTime to ASP.NET MVC

Question

We know that MVC returns DateTime for JsonResult in this format: /Date(1240718400000)/, and we know how to parse it in JS.

However, It seems that MVC doesn't accept DateTime parameter being sent in this way. For example, I have the following Action.

[HttpGet]
public ViewResult Detail(BookDetail details) { //... }

The BookDetail class contains a DateTime field named CreateDate, and I passed a JSON object from JS in this format:

{"CreateDate": "/Date(1319144453250)/"}

CreateDate is recognized as null.

If I passed the JSON in this way, it works as expected:

{"CreateDate": "2011-10-10"}

The problem is that I cannot change client side code in an easy way, have to stick to /Date(1319144453250)/ this format. I have to make changes in server side.

How to solve this problem? Is that anything related to ModelBinder?

Thanks so much in advance!

Answer 1

The problem, as you suspected, is a model binding issue.

To work around it, create a custom type, and let's call it JsonDateTime. Because DateTime is a struct, you cannot inherit from it, so create the following class:

public class JsonDateTime
{
    public JsonDateTime(DateTime dateTime)
    {
        _dateTime = dateTime;
    }

    private DateTime _dateTime;

    public DateTime Value
    {
        get { return _dateTime; }
        set { _dateTime = value; }
    }
}

Change CreateDate to this type. Next, we need a custom model binder, like so:

public class JsonDateTimeModelBinder : IModelBinder  
{ 
    public object BindModel(ControllerContext controllerContext, ModelBindingContext bindingContext) 
    { 
        var value = bindingContext.ValueProvider.GetValue(bindingContext.ModelName).ToString(); 
        return new DateTime(Int64.Parse(
            value.Substring(6).Replace(")/",String.Empty))); // "borrowed" from skolima's answer
    }
}

Then, in Global.asax.cs, in Application_Start, register your custom ModelBinder:

ModelBinders.Binders.Add(typeof(JsonDateTime), new JsonDateTimeModelBinder());