How to generate a UTC Unix Timestamp in C#

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to convert UNIX timestamp to DateTime and vice versa?

How can I create a unix timestamp in C#? (e.g. 2012-10-10 14:00:00 -> 1349877600)

Funny to see a question marked as a duplicate...multiple times. :) — William T. Mallard, Jan 31 '14 at 19:48

score 39 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 10 '12 at 14:38

39

private double ConvertToTimestamp(DateTime value)
{
    //create Timespan by subtracting the value provided from
    //the Unix Epoch
    TimeSpan span = (value - new DateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0).ToLocalTime());

    //return the total seconds (which is a UNIX timestamp)
    return (double)span.TotalSeconds;
}

answered Oct 10 '12 at 14:38

John Woo

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You sir have saved my sanity. – Jakub Arnold Nov 16 '13 at 15:30
12

Why "double"? Wouldn't a long integer be a better model for seconds? (And more consistent with the Unix representation?) – William T. Mallard Jan 31 '14 at 19:50
@WilliamT.Mallard If you want a `long`, I suggest `return span.Ticks / TimeSpan.TicksPerSecond;`. However, since 2015, the BCL has a built in method, `((DateTimeOffset)value).ToUnixTimeSeconds()`. – Jeppe Stig Nielsen Jul 20 '16 at 13:19

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '12 at 14:39

-1

DateTime.UtcNow - new DateTime(2012,10,10,14,0,0)).TotalSeconds

answered Oct 10 '12 at 14:39

aserwin

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A) You're missing a paren, I'm assuming it should go before `DateTime.UtcNow`, yes? And shouldn't `new DateTime(2012,10,10,14,0,0)` be the Unix epoch 1/1/1970? – William T. Mallard Jan 31 '14 at 19:57

How to generate a UTC Unix Timestamp in C#

2 Answers2