OIC - Converting UTC DateTime String to Hong Kong Time in Oracle Integration Cloud

When integrating systems in Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC), it is common to receive date-time values in UTC format as strings from source systems. Sometimes downstream systems require the date-time in a different timezone, such as Hong Kong Time (HKT).

In this blog, we will see how to convert a UTC datetime string into Hong Kong time using XPath functions inside OIC.

Problem Statement

The source system sends a datetime value in UTC format as a string:

2026-01-29T10:00:00Z

But the target system expects the time in Hong Kong timezone (UTC +8).

So we need to:

• Convert the string to xsd:dateTime
• Adjust the timezone to +8 hours
• Format the output datetime.

Solution

We can use the XPath functions adjust-dateTime-to-timezone and format-dateTime.

XPath Expression

xp20:format-dateTime(

   fn:adjust-dateTime-to-timezone(

      xsd:dateTime("2026-01-29T10:00:00Z"),

      xsd:dayTimeDuration("PT8H")

   ),

   "[Y0001]-[M01]-[D01]T[H01]:[m01]:[s01]Z"

)

Explanation

1. Convert String to DateTime

xsd:dateTime("2026-01-29T10:00:00Z")

This converts the string value into an XML datetime format.

2. Adjust Timezone

fn:adjust-dateTime-to-timezone(... , xsd:dayTimeDuration("PT8H"))

PT8H means plus 8 hours

Hong Kong timezone is UTC +8

So the system adjusts the time accordingly.

Example:

UTC Time

Hong Kong Time

2026-01-29T10:00:00Z

2026-01-29T18:00:00

3. Format the Output

xp20:format-dateTime(...,"[Y0001]-[M01]-[D01]T[H01]:[m01]:[s01]Z")

This formats the datetime into a standard ISO format.

Output:

2026-01-29T18:00:00Z

When to Use This

This approach is useful when:

Source system sends UTC timestamps

Target system expects local timezone

Integration logic is implemented in OIC mapper expressions

Typical scenarios include:

ERP integrations

HR systems

Global payroll or workforce systems

Cross-region API integrations

Key Takeaways

OIC supports timezone manipulation using XPath functions.

adjust-dateTime-to-timezone helps convert UTC to any timezone.

PT8H represents 8 hours offset for Hong Kong time.

Always convert string → xsd:dateTime before timezone adjustment.