Convert from Time Zone Before Persisting in X++

Article
05/18/2015

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

In X++ code, SQL statements that read and write DateTime fields from tables do not implicitly perform time zone conversions. Explicit calls to methods on the DateTimeUtil class can be added to convert a database DateTime column or an X++ utcdatetime value to a particular time zone.

Note

In contrast, the DateTimeEdit control on a Form automatically converts between the user's preferred time zone that displays and the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) value it reads or writes to the database table. You can change this default behavior of the control.

DateTime Values Must be Stored as UTC

Any X++ code that you write needs to store DateTime values in UTC. Your code should convert any non-UTC date/time values into UTC before storage.

Warning

If you do not store DateTime values in UTC, they can be converted incorrectly by the DateTimeEdit control on a Form (when the values are read from the database).

Reading DateTime Values in UTC

Each time you write an X++ method that reads date/time values from the database, you need to understand whether the date/times should be converted from UTC, and if so into which time zone.

X++ Example of Inserting DateTime

This section contains:

Background information for the X++ example.
The X++ code example.

Background for the X++ Example

The following X++ code example demonstrates the use of certain date/time related types and methods.

DateTimeUtil class

::newDateTime method
::getUserPreferredTimeZone method
::applyTimeZoneOffset method
::toStr method

Timezone enum

::GMTMINUS0500EASTERNTIME element

The X++ example assumes that a table named MeetingTable already exists with the following fields:

MeetingId – Integer
MeetingDate – Date
MeetingTime – Time
MeetingDateTime – DateTime

In the code example, some rows are inserted into MeetingTable. For each row, the MeetingDateTime UTC value is obtained in a different way:

DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime, with a literal date and timeOfDay
DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime, with a hard-coded Timezone enum
DateTimeUtil ::applyTimeZoneOffset, with a hard-coded Timezone enum
DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime, with implicit use of the user's preferred time zone

Code Example

    static void DateTimeInsertJob( Args _args )
    {
        MeetingTable meetingXRec; // Inherits from xRecord class.
        date date2;
        timeOfDay time3;
        utcdatetime utcDt5 ,utcDt6;
        str sMeetingDate
            , sMeetingTime
            , sMeetingDateTimeUtc
            , sMeetingDateTimeLocalTz
            , sMeetingId;
        ;
        // Empty the MeetingTable table of all rows.
        delete_from meetingXRec;
        // Prepare a date and a timeOfDay, to use
        //  in building a utcdatetime.
        date2 = 27\11\2006;
        time3 = str2time( "06:44:55" );
        //---------------------------------
        // Combine a literal date and timeOfDay, into a
        //  utcdatetime variable, without conversion from UTC.
        utcDt5 = DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime
            ( date2
            , time3
            // Omitting the optional Timezone parameter,
            //  letting it default to UTC.
            );
        // Insert a row.
        meetingXRec = null;
        meetingXRec .MeetingId = 1;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDate = date2;
        meetingXRec .MeetingTime = time3;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDateTime = utcDt5;
        meetingXRec .insert();
        print( "[11], MeetingId == 1,  UTC,  utcDt5 == "
             + DateTimeUtil ::toStr( utcDt5 ) );
        //---------------------------------
        // Use a hard-coded Timezone enum value to convert
        //  a utcdatetime value for a particular time zone.
        utcDt5 = DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime
            ( date2
            , time3
            // A hard-coded Timezone value.
            , Timezone ::GMTMINUS0500EASTERNTIME
            );
        // Insert a row.
        meetingXRec = null;
        meetingXRec .MeetingId = 2;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDate = date2;
        meetingXRec .MeetingTime = time3;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDateTime = utcDt5;
        meetingXRec .insert();
        print( "[21], MeetingId == 2,  UTC-0500,  utcDt5 == "
             + DateTimeUtil ::toStr( utcDt5 ) );
        //---------------------------------
        // Convert to a hard-coded time zone by using
        //  ::applyTimeZoneOffset, instead of a time zone
        //  parameter in ::newDateTime. Same outcome.
        utcDt5 = DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime
            ( date2
            , time3
            // Omitting the optional Timezone parameter,
            //  letting it default to UTC.
            );
        utcDt5 = DateTimeUtil ::applyTimeZoneOffset
            ( utcDt5
            // A hard-coded Timezone value.
            , Timezone ::GMTMINUS0500EASTERNTIME
            );
        // Insert a row.
        meetingXRec = null;
        meetingXRec .MeetingId = 3;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDate = date2;
        meetingXRec .MeetingTime = time3;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDateTime = utcDt5;
        meetingXRec .insert();
        print( "[31], MeetingId == 3,  UTC-0500,  utcDt5 == "
             + DateTimeUtil ::toStr( utcDt5 ) );
        //---------------------------------
        // Use the user's preferred time zone to convert
        //  a utcdatetime value.
        utcDt5 = DateTimeUtil ::newDateTime
            ( date2
            , time3
            // User's preferred time zone.
            , DateTimeUtil ::getUserPreferredTimeZone()
            );
        // Insert a row.
        meetingXRec = null;
        meetingXRec .MeetingId = 4;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDate = date2;
        meetingXRec .MeetingTime = time3;
        meetingXRec .MeetingDateTime = utcDt5;
        meetingXRec .insert();
        print( "[41], MeetingId == 4,  User TZ,  utcDt5 == "
             + DateTimeUtil ::toStr( utcDt5 ) );
        pause;
        /**********************
        This code produces the following output.
        MeetingId == 4 shows the test run occurred when the user's
        preferred time zone was UTC-0500 (Eastern Time).
    
        [11], MeetingId == 1, UTC,     utcDt5 == 2006-11-27T06:44:55
        [21], MeetingId == 2, UTC-0500, utcDt5 == 2006-11-27T11:44:55
        [31], MeetingId == 3, UTC-0500, utcDt5 == 2006-11-27T11:44:55
        [41], MeetingId == 4, User TZ, utcDt5 == 2006-11-27T11:44:55
        **********************/
    }