CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#datetimeparsing
user1753377
user1753377

Reputation: 57

How to parse DateTime

How can I parse this DateTime value?

17-09-2018 3:18

I want to parse the date and the time. This is what I've tried so far:

x = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "d/M/yyyy hh:MM",CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString();
x = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "dd/MM/yyyy hh:MM",CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString();
x = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "dd/MM/yyyy hh:MM",CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString();

How can I make this work?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1841

Answers (2)

Igor
Igor

Reputation: 62213

  • MM is months, mm is minutes. The casing matters.
  • Double m or double M means the value always has 2 digits. A single m or single M means the value can have 1 digit if below 10.
  • H means hours in military time (24 hour format), h means 12 hour with possible am/pm. The same rule applies for double digits.
  • The character used between values has to match the input string, don't specify - if you are using / or the other way around. Alternativly use a culture parameter that has the same format specifier as in the input string.
 DateTime x = DateTime.ParseExact("17-09-2018 3:18", "d-MM-yyyy h:m", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

See also DateTime.ParseExact and Custom Date and Time Format Strings

Upvotes: 5

Gaurav
Gaurav

Reputation: 174

You are almost there. You just need to remember two more things:

  1. mm is for minutes and MM is for month.

  2. It's better to use DateTime.TryParseExact and not let the program throw exception interrupting the flow unless that is intended.

    // input string
string dateString = "5/01/2009 09:00";

// variable to hold output value
DateTime dateValue;

// specify all the valid formats here applicable in your case
string[] formats = { "dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm", "dd/M/yyyy hh:mm", "d/M/yyyy hh:mm", "d/MM/yyyy hh:mm", "dd/MM/yy hh:mm", "dd/M/yy hh:mm", "d/M/yy hh:mm", "d/MM/yy hh:mm"};
if (DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, formats, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, 
                         DateTimeStyles.None, out dateValue))
Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, 
                   dateValue.Kind);

Upvotes: 0

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