AutoQuery Data DateTime format differs from Source Service

1

Hello,

My Servicestack Instance is configured to render JSON dates as ISO8601 in Global.asax

JsConfig.DateHandler = DateHandler.ISO8601

I have a POCO that uses a nullable DateTime:

 public class WindowsUser
    {
           public DateTime? CreationDate { get; set; }
    }

This POCO is used in an endpoint that lists all instances of that type, and in an AutoQuery Data endpoint that allows for searching:

 [Route("/users/windows", "GET", Summary = "Lists all users from Active Directory")]
    public class GetWindowsUsers : IReturn<List<WindowsUser>>
    {

    }

  
    [Route("/users/windows/search", "GET", Summary = "Search users")]
    public class SearchWindowsUsers : QueryData<WindowsUser>
    {        
    }

(and in Global.asax)

 Plugins.Add(new AutoQueryDataFeature {MaxLimit = 1000}
 .AddDataSource(ctx => ctx.ServiceSource<WindowsUser>(new GetWindowsUsers(), HostContext.Cache, TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5)))

The source of CreationDate is a UTC DateTime object.

When I view records through the AutoQuery endpoint, a time zone gets included:

"creationDate": "2004-09-23T20:41:52.0000000-05:00"

The direct endpoint does not include the time zone:

"creationDate": "2004-09-23T20:41:52.0000000"

Any reason this is the case?

2

I don’t know what the difference of what you mean by between “the AutoQuery endpoint” or “direct endpoint”, what is the actual JSON response?

3

The AutoQuery endpoint is the point that is using an AutoQuery ServiceSource to provide queryable results:

[Route("/users/windows/search", "GET", Summary = "Search users")]
    public class SearchWindowsUsers : QueryData<WindowsUser>
    {        
    }

The direct endpoint is the source of the above endpoint, also exposed as a separate endpoint:

[Route("/users/windows", "GET", Summary = "Lists all users from Active Directory")]
    public class GetWindowsUsers : IReturn<List<WindowsUser>>
    {

    }

I’ve skipped the service implementation code (i.e

public List<WindowsUser> Any(GetWindowsUsers request)
{
  ' Get data
}
```
but the `creationDate` values above are from the JSON response.  When `creationDate` is retreived outside AutoQuery, I get a 8601 Date minus the timezone.

```
"creationDate": "2004-09-23T20:41:52.0000000"
```

When I first created this thread, I thought I was getting different responses from the AutoQuery result set, but it's actually only when the AutoQuery result set is returned from cached data.  i.e.  the first time `/users/windows/search` is invoked, `creationDate` is identical to the source service endpoint.   When `/users/windows/search` is invoked a second time, and the data is retrieved from Redis (my cache), the timezone is included: 

```
"creationDate": "2004-09-23T20:41:52.0000000-05:00"
```

Does that help clarify things?
4

I should add that the cached results of /users/windows do not include the time zone in the creationDate– this just happens with the cached AutoQuery results.

5

Dates are serialized as UTC but deserialized back into LocalTime by default as the Kind is not preserved during Serialization. You can try use JsConfig.SkipDateTimeConversion = true to skip the implied conversion.

6

Ok, that works, but it is strange that I only saw the LocalTime deserialization when it was both from AutoQuery and cached.

Thanks!

7

It’s only ever deserialized when it’s deserialized from a distributed Cache, otherwise it’s only being serialized.