Why does JsonConvert change DateTimes time to DateTimeKind.Unspecified when using DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal?

Question

I am creating a web API and am having problems serializing JSON DateTimes. After performing some tests, I can only conclude that the behavior Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvertand / or Newtonsoft is IsoDateTimeConverternot what I expected.

Consider this:

// Arrange
var noonUtc = new DateTime(2016, 05, 12, 12, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Utc);
var noon = new DateTime(2016, 05, 12, 12, 0, 0, DateTimeKind.Unspecified);

var settings = new JsonSerializerSettings();

settings.Converters.Add(new IsoDateTimeConverter
{    
    Culture = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,    
    DateTimeStyles = DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal
});

// Act
var utcJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(noonUtc, settings); // "\"2016-05-12T12:00:00Z\""
var json = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(noon, settings);       // "\"2016-05-12T10:00:00Z\""

... // Assertions

Well, therefore, the time for DateTimes DateTimeKind.Unspecifiedwas adjusted from 12 hours to 10 hours. I am in Stockholm, which is now two hours ahead of UTC, so fair.

However, change the serializer settings to use DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal, for example:

settings.Converters.Add(new IsoDateTimeConverter
{    
    Culture = CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,    
    DateTimeStyles = DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal
});

, , DateTime DateTimeKind.Unspecified ! , UTC ? ?

Answer 1

, - ; IsoDateTimeConverter. :

if ((_dateTimeStyles & DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal) == DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal
   || (_dateTimeStyles & DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal) == DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal)
{
    dateTime = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
}

, , _dateTimeStyles AdjustToUniversal AssumeUniversal ToUniversalTime(); Kind.

DateTime.ToUniversalTime() :

.NET Framework 2.0, , ToUniversalTime, Kind DateTime. .

Kind        | Results
----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------
Utc         | No conversion is performed.
Local       | The current DateTime object is converted to UTC.
Unspecified | The current DateTime object is assumed to be a local time, 
            | and the conversion is performed as if Kind were Local.

, , ToUniversalTime . .

, ( ) . , , :

public class CorrectedIsoDateTimeConverter : IsoDateTimeConverter
{
    private const string DefaultDateTimeFormat = "yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss.FFFFFFFK";

    public override void WriteJson(JsonWriter writer, object value, JsonSerializer serializer)
    {
        if (value is DateTime)
        {
            DateTime dateTime = (DateTime)value;

            if (dateTime.Kind == DateTimeKind.Unspecified)
            {
                if (DateTimeStyles.HasFlag(DateTimeStyles.AssumeUniversal))
                {
                    dateTime = DateTime.SpecifyKind(dateTime, DateTimeKind.Utc);
                }
                else if (DateTimeStyles.HasFlag(DateTimeStyles.AssumeLocal))
                {
                    dateTime = DateTime.SpecifyKind(dateTime, DateTimeKind.Local);
                }
            }

            if (DateTimeStyles.HasFlag(DateTimeStyles.AdjustToUniversal))
            {
                dateTime = dateTime.ToUniversalTime();
            }

            string format = string.IsNullOrEmpty(DateTimeFormat) ? DefaultDateTimeFormat : DateTimeFormat;
            writer.WriteValue(dateTime.ToString(format, Culture));
        }
        else
        {
            base.WriteJson(writer, value, serializer);
        }
    }
}