> I am having trouble deciding the best way to handle DateTime objects in
> communications between various systems. We have systems deployed in
multiple
> time zones, so standard SOAP formatting is causing me some trouble.
>
> My scenario is that I treat DateTime objects as an instant in time and
leave
> it at that (i.e. not relative to any time zone - just some instant in
time).
> I think that I am treating DateTime correctly, but please let me know if
that
> was not the intention when it was put into the FCL.
>
> The challenge comes in when I use the standard SOAP formatter when
> serializing my objects to send from one system to another. The formatter
> imposes a time zone on my DateTime instance, so my DateTime is shifted
when
> it gets deserialized at a site that is in a different time zone. It
appears
> that the SOAP formatter wants to force the DateTime class to be something
> different in order to fit into the XSD dateTime. Am I understanding that
> correctly?
>
> The FCL DateTime and SQL DateTime are both unaware of a time zone and I
> think that is appropriate. I don't know about the serialization /
formatter
> and wonder if maybe I am misunderstanding something. Also, I would like
to
> solve my problem of shifting DateTime when communicating between time
zones.
> Can someone give me pointers on that - specifically, I put in a DateTime
> instance on one end and get an instance out on the other end that has a
> different state?
>
> Thank you.
>
> - jeremiah