Date format in my mvc C# inventory management application

Question

Hello team,

In my mvc C# inventory management application, my date dataType in the SQL server DB is date( yyyy-MM-dd), which I did data manipulation at the frontend to covert it to dd-MM-yyyy and it works on my local machine but when I hosted on somee it is not working as I want, but if use nvarchar dataType for the date format as string I got it perfectly as dd-MM-yyyy, I guess somee.com server is configured that way but my worry also is when I want to filter sales sales data wouldn't it cause any problems. Because our date format is dd-MM-yyyy, I did everything possible on the live server to covert it to dd-MM-yyyy but is not working. Kindly assist, thanks.

Prasad Raveendran · Answer

Storing dates as nvarchar just to control the format is the wrong fix. v Keep DATE / DATETIME in the DB and control formatting in MVC. try this option in web.config culture="en-GB" uiCulture="en-GB" /> In addition to that, if users submit dates like dd-MM-yyyy , MVC must know how to parse it. [DisplayFormat(DataFormatString = "{0:dd-MM-yyyy}", ApplyFormatInEditMode = true)] [DataType(DataType.Date)] public DateTime SaleDate { get; set; } You need this only if : Users enter or submit dates as dd-MM-yyyy And MVC fails to bind it correctly on POST (null / wrong date / model error)

Raghunath Bhukan · Answer

Hi Emmmanuel FIADUFE, Yes, you need to apply the changes in your codebase and then republish the application. You will not see the Global.asax.cs file in the published folder because it is a backend (code-behind) file. During publishing, it is compiled into a DLL and included in the application’s binaries. When published, the code in Global.asax.cs becomes part of an assembly (DLL), typically named App_global.asax.dll , which is placed in the bin folder of your published application.

Emmmanuel FIADUFE · Answer

Or should make the changes on my local machine and republish the application again since I can't find the Global.asax file you are referring to.

Emmmanuel FIADUFE · Answer

Pls on the somee server, I can only see one Global.asax file in my file manager directory, I open other folders such as bin and views but nothing like that is there except the one I was talking about, I'm saying this because you said I place the code at the wrong location.

Raghunath Bhukan · Answer

What went wrong (very important) You accidentally put C# code inside Global.asax , which is a markup file , not a C# file. This line proves it: Parser Error Message: The content in the application file is not valid. And this part: Line 2: protected void Application_BeginRequest() ASP.NET is trying to parse markup , but it finds raw C# code instead. Correct structure (this matters): You should have TWO separate files : 1. Global.asax (markup file – VERY SMALL) This file should contain ONLY ONE LINE : Do NOT put methods here Do NOT put { } here Do NOT put C# logic here 2. Global.asax.cs (code-behind – C# logic goes here) This is where your method belongs. using System; using System.Globalization; using System.Threading; using System.Web; namespace SmartRestaurantManagement { public class MvcApplication : HttpApplication { protected void Application_BeginRequest() { var culture = new CultureInfo("en-GB"); Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture; Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture; } } } Method is inside the class Correct namespace Correct file No parser error Why your current setup fails: You effectively have this (invalid): protected void Application_BeginRequest() { ... } ASP.NET does not allow raw C# inside .asax markup . Quick checklist to fix it: Open Global.asax Leave only the directive line Open Global.asax.cs Put Application_BeginRequest inside MvcApplication Make sure: Namespace matches Inherits="SmartRestaurantManagement.MvcApplication" Clean & rebuild Reload the site Bottom line Your culture code is correct It was placed in the wrong file Move it to Global.asax.cs inside the class Your app will run and dates will format correctly on Somee

Emmmanuel FIADUFE · Answer

When I open the Global.asax.cs, I found this line of code and I pasted your code below.

Emmmanuel FIADUFE · Answer

Hello Jignesh Kumar Where do I place your code.

Emmmanuel FIADUFE · Answer

Hello Raghunath Bhukan After modifying my Global.asax.cs, with your code this is the error message that came up when when I went to the page. protected void Application_BeginRequest() { var culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB"); System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture; System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture; } Parser Error Description: An error occurred during the parsing of a resource required to service this request. Please review the following specific parse error details and modify your source file appropriately. Parser Error Message: The content in the application file is not valid. Source Error: Line 1: Line 2: protected void Application_BeginRequest() Line 3: { Line 4: var culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB"); Line 1: Line 2: protected void Application_BeginRequest() Line 3: { Line 4: var culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB");

Raghunath Bhukan · Answer

Root Cause (Why it works locally but not on Somee) 1. SQL date has NO format In SQL Server: date Does not store any format ( yyyy-MM-dd , dd-MM-yyyy , etc.) It stores only a pure date value The format is applied only when the date is converted to a string 2. Different server culture settings Local machine ? usually en-GB or similar Somee server ? usually en-US Because of this: en-GB displays dates as dd-MM-yyyy en-US displays dates as MM-dd-yyyy This explains why your formatting works locally but not after hosting. Why using nvarchar for dates is dangerous You are absolutely right to be concerned. If dates are stored as strings: Incorrect sorting Example: "02-01-2024" appears greater than "15-12-2023" Broken filtering using BETWEEN , >= , Poor query performance SQL date functions cannot be used Indexes become ineffective For production systems, dates should never be stored as strings. Correct & Professional Solution (Best Practice) 1. Keep SQL column as DATE or DATETIME SaleDate DATE 2. NEVER format dates in SQL Avoid doing this: SELECT CONVERT(varchar, SaleDate, 105) Formatting should not happen in SQL. 3. Format dates in MVC (NOT SQL) In Razor views: @Model.SaleDate.ToString("dd-MM-yyyy") Or: @Html.DisplayFor(m => m.SaleDate, "{0:dd-MM-yyyy}") 4. For input fields (Create / Edit) HTML date inputs require yyyy-MM-dd : This is mandatory for browser compatibility. 5. Set Global Culture in MVC (IMPORTANT) This step fixes the Somee hosting issue permanently. In Global.asax.cs (ASP.NET MVC): protected void Application_BeginRequest() { var culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-GB"); System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture; System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture; } This forces dd-MM-yyyy regardless of the server’s regional settings. 6. Filtering sales data (SAFE way) Always filter using DateTime , not strings: var sales = db.Sales .Where(s => s.SaleDate >= fromDate && s.SaleDate Benefits: Correct results Uses SQL indexes Fast and reliable What NOT to do Do not store dates as nvarchar Do not rely on SQL formatting Do not compare date strings Do not assume hosting culture matches local culture Summary (What you should do now) Keep SQL column as DATE Set application culture to en-GB Format dates only in MVC views Filter data using DateTime , not strings This approach is industry-standard, scalable, and production-safe. Note - Use UTC if ANY of these are true: Users are in multiple time zones You log events (sales, audits, transactions) You may expand to other countries later You want consistent timestamps across servers

Jignesh Kumar · Answer

Hello, You can do this on your razor page, @Model.SaleDate.ToString("dd-MM-yyyy") Or if nullable: @Model.SaleDate?.ToString("dd-MM-yyyy") If model binding / parsing is failing on Somee : Explicitly parse with culture: DateTime.ParseExact( inputDate, "dd-MM-yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture );

Date format in my mvc C# inventory management application

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