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c#.netdatetime
Captain Comic
Captain Comic

Reputation: 16196

Need parse dd.MM.yyyy to DateTime using TryParse

I need to parse string to DateTime. The string is always in the following format

"10.10.2010" That means dd.MM.yyyy, separated with dots.

I want to use DateTime.TryParse or any other method. Please suggest.

UPDATE

Updated the question. I am just looking for the right method to achieve the goal. Not manual parsing

Upvotes: 31

Views: 59650

Answers (8)

Phillip Holmes
Phillip Holmes

Reputation: 424

I have found that jquery datepicker will add non-printable characters in the string. So, when you try to convert to another format, it will throw an invalid date error every time. In my case, I was just trying to convert it back to a time stamp from whatever culture the user was in at the time. It's a somewhat hacky approach, but it worked for me.

    static public string ToDigitsOnly(string input)
    {
        Regex digitsOnly = new Regex(@"[^\d]");
        return digitsOnly.Replace(input, "");
    }

    static private DateTime ConvertDateTimeToDate(string dateTimeString, String langCulture)
    {

        System.DateTime result;

        string[] dateString = dateTimeString.Split('/');


        try
        {
            if (langCulture != "en")
            {
                int Year = Convert.ToInt32(ToDigitsOnly(dateString[2]));
                int Month = Convert.ToInt32(ToDigitsOnly(dateString[1]));
                int Day = Convert.ToInt32(ToDigitsOnly(dateString[0]));
                result = new DateTime(Year, Month, Day, 00, 00, 00);
            }
           else
            {
                int Year = Convert.ToInt32(dateString[2]);
                int Month = Convert.ToInt32(dateString[0]);
                int Day = Convert.ToInt32(dateString[1]);
                result = new DateTime(Year, Month, Day, 00, 00, 00);
            }
        }
        catch
        {
            // last attempt 
            result = Convert.ToDateTime(dateTimeString, CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"));
        }

        return result;
    }

Upvotes: 0

Marco Aurélio S. Oliveira
Marco Aurélio S. Oliveira

Reputation: 21

try "ddMMyyy", without "- / ."

Upvotes: 2

Alexanre
Alexanre

Reputation: 51

Brazil codec 

public static bool IsDateTime(string txtDate)
{
   DateTime tempDate;

   return DateTime.TryParseExact(txtDate,"dd/MM/yyyy",
                                 new CultureInfo("pt-BR"),
                                 DateTimeStyles.None, out tempDate);
}

Upvotes: 5

LukeH
LukeH

Reputation: 269298

Use the TryParseExact method:

DateTime parsed;
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(yourString, "dd'.'MM'.'yyyy",
    CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out parsed))
{
    // success
}

Upvotes: 9

Klaus Byskov Pedersen
Klaus Byskov Pedersen

Reputation: 120917

Why not use ParseExact instead?

var theDate = DateTime.ParseExact("dd.MM.yyyy", yourDateString, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Upvotes: 5

Dror
Dror

Reputation: 7305

You can use DateTime.TryParseExact

Upvotes: 1

Jon Skeet
Jon Skeet

Reputation: 1499860

TryParse doesn't let you specify the format - but you can use TryParseExact:

DateTime date;
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(text, "dd'.'MM'.'yyyy",
                           CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                           DateTimeStyles.None,
                           out date))
{
   // Success
}
else
{
   // Parse failed
}

Note that the dot doesn't strictly need to be escaped with the quotes, but personally I like to put any literal text in quotes just to make sure that it won't be changed. It's a personal preference thing though - you could certainly just use "dd.MM.yyyy" if you wanted.

Likewise I've specified the invariant culture which is what I normally do for a fixed custom style - but you could make it use the current culture or a specific other culture if you wanted. When you're using a custom style (rather than a standard style such as "long date") it's less likely to make any difference, admittedly.

Upvotes: 67

Itay Karo
Itay Karo

Reputation: 18286

use DateTime.TryParseExact(...)

Upvotes: 2

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