VS2017. Fix for DateTime serialization with non-UTC timezone

[AlexSeleznyov]

Migration to VS2017:

• Dedicated Solution Configuration for .NET and .NET Core to allow for AppVeyor CI use (.NET Configuration is backward compatible with VS2015)
• Fix failing tests
• Fix build-steps for issues with non-existent paths

[rpgmaker]

Thanks for the PR. I will review it and if everything works then i will merge it. :)

[rpgmaker]

I have made the changes to the master branch. So you can rebase if you want to now.

Thanks again for the contribution

[rpgmaker]

Any progress on the datetime fixes?

Thanks,

[AlexSeleznyov]

Sorry but no :( The project I needed JSON library for is not of high priority anymore thus I had to postpone working on the fix as I am required elsewhere. I'll try to find some time next week.

[rpgmaker]

Thanks for the response, you can take your time. The part is that I have most of your changes from this pr already. So the date fix can take as long as it needs.

Thanks,

[rpgmaker]

Any update on this pr?

[rpgmaker]

The current changes in the fix do not require changes to unit tests? Right?

Thanks,

[AlexSeleznyov]

I've rebased to current source code then applied my changes - tests pass just fine https://ci.appveyor.com/project/AlexSeleznyov/netjson I use the updated code for a few months already and no issues were reported. Without these changes same test fails

[rpgmaker]

Rather than changing the test. Why not try to use the netjson settings NetJSON.TimeZoneFormat with local as the enumeration? And not make direct changes to the code for the date itself both in the test and the conversion method of date

Thanks,

[rpgmaker]

I am suggesting passing setting to thoses tests that need local time. And removing code changes on the logic for datetime in the core code itself to see if it resolve the problem

[AlexSeleznyov]

Actually, they do, as when run in non-GMT timezone, due to DateTime's Equal implementation, same timestamp in different representations is different from itself. For example, TestSerializeDateNowWithMillisecondDefaultFormatUtc has date in Msk timezone but ddate is in UTC thus comparison fails. There should be ether UtcNow or ToLocalTime for ddate to make sure they are of same kind.

[AlexSeleznyov]

Yes, I do use TimeZoneFormat with local and it works just fine until there is UTC datetime kind is used.

[AlexSeleznyov]

To get the same errors as I do, add this to AppVeyor's Environment Init script: Set-TimeZone -Id "Russian Standard Time"

[rpgmaker]

I see. I will look more into it. I guess using a different time zone expose the problem. Wanted minimum changes without breaking existing code

Thanks,

[AlexSeleznyov]

Can't agree more! Timezone is a heck of an issue - https://infiniteundo.com/post/25509354022/more-falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-time

[rpgmaker]

Any possibility that there is more work that needs to be done for this?

[rpgmaker]

I am going to close this PR since most of the changes are already in place. Re-open if needed.