Access Date and Datetime fields

You can use the Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField class to access data template fields of type Date and Datetime. The Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField.Value property contains the date and time as a string in the ISO format used by Sitecore (yyyyMMddTHHmmss).

You can convert a value in the ISO format to a System.DateTime structure using the Sitecore.DateUtil.IsoDateToDateTime method. For example, to access the Date or Datetime field named DateTimeField in the /Sitecore/Content/Home item in the Master database:

Sitecore.Data.Database master = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master");

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item home = master.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");

Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField dateTimeField = home.Fields["datetimefield"];

string dateTimeString = dateTimeField.Value;

DateTime dateTimeStruct = Sitecore.DateUtil.IsoDateToDateTime(dateTimeString);

Alternatively, you can access the Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField.DateTime property, which contains a System.DateTime structure representing the same value. For example, to access the Date or Datetime field named DateTimeField in the /Sitecore/Content/Home item in the Master database as a System.DateTime structure:

Sitecore.Data.Database master = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master");

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item home = master.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");

Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField dateTimeField = home.Fields["datefield"];

DateTime dateTimeStruct = dateTimeField.DateTime;

You can update the value of a Date or Datetime field by updating the Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField.Value property to a string in the ISO format. You can use the Sitecore.DateUtil.ToIsoDate method to convert a System.DateTime structure to the ISO format. For example, to update the value of the Datetime field named DateTimeField in the /Sitecore/Content/Home item in the Master database to the current system date:

Sitecore.Data.Database master = Sitecore.Configuration.Factory.GetDatabase("master");

Sitecore.Data.Items.Item home = master.GetItem("/sitecore/content/home");

Sitecore.Data.Fields.DateField dateTimeField = home.Fields["datetimefield"];

if (dateTimeField != null)
{
    home.Editing.BeginEdit();
    dateTimeField.Value = Sitecore.DateUtil.ToIsoDate(DateTime.Now);
    home.Editing.EndEdit();
}