feat: Add utils method to escape a date time string for use in filter operations

src/main/java/org/hisp/dhis/util/DateTimeUtils.java

@@ -303,6 +303,19 @@ public static String getUtcDateTimeString(Date dateTime) {
     return String.format("%sZ", getUtcDateFormat(DATE_TIME_FORMAT).format(dateTime));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Escapes a date time string for use in filter operations
+   *
+   * @param dateTime the date time string to escape (e.g. {@code "2024-01-15T10:30:00"}).
+   * @return the escaped date time string (e.g. {@code "2024-01-15T10/:30/:00"}).
+   */
+  public static String escapeDateTimeForFilter(String dateTime) {
+    if (dateTime == null) {
+      return "";
+    }
+    return dateTime.replace(":", "/:");
+  }
+
   // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   // Validation methods
   // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

src/test/java/org/hisp/dhis/util/DateTimeUtilsTest.java

@@ -314,6 +314,29 @@ void testIsValidLocalDateTime() {
     assertTrue(DateTimeUtils.isValidLocalDateTime("2018-12-02T18:12:35.798Z"));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  void shouldEscapeDateTimeColonsForFilter() {
+    assertEquals(
+        "2024-01-15T10/:30/:00", DateTimeUtils.escapeDateTimeForFilter("2024-01-15T10:30:00"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldEscapeDateTimeWithSecondsForFilter() {
+    assertEquals(
+        "2024-01-15T10/:30/:45.123",
+        DateTimeUtils.escapeDateTimeForFilter("2024-01-15T10:30:45.123"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldReturnSameStringWhenNoColonsPresent() {
+    assertEquals("2024-01-15", DateTimeUtils.escapeDateTimeForFilter("2024-01-15"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldReturnEmptyStringWhenDateTimeIsNull() {
+    assertEquals("", DateTimeUtils.escapeDateTimeForFilter(null));
+  }
+
   // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   // Support methods
   // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------