12

I want to format the input string into MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss format in C#.
The input string is in format MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss
For example :"04/30/2013 23:00"

I tried Convert.ToDateTime() function, but it considers 4 as date and 3 as month which is not what I want. Actually month is 04 and date is 03.

I tried DateTime.ParseExact() function also, But getting Exception.

I am getting error:

String was not recognized as a valid DateTime.

Kai Brummund
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Priya
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9 Answers9

16

Your date time string doesn't contains any seconds. You need to reflect that in your format (remove the :ss).
Also, you need to specify H instead of h if you are using 24 hour times: 

DateTime.ParseExact("04/30/2013 23:00", "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)

See here for more information:

Custom Date and Time Format Strings

Botz3000
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  • `str = "6"; dtm = DateTime.ParseExact(str, "d", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);` is failing for me. Any idea? – Si8 Oct 24 '16 at 15:26
  • @Si8 It's because "d" is a standard format string (short date). You can use "%d" instead. See here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8kb3ddd4(v=vs.110).aspx#UsingSingleSpecifiers – Botz3000 Oct 25 '16 at 06:12
5

You can use DateTime.ParseExact() method.

Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent using the specified format and culture-specific format information. The format of the string representation must match the specified format exactly.

DateTime date = DateTime.ParseExact("04/30/2013 23:00", 
                                    "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm", 
                                    CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Here is a DEMO.

hh is for 12-hour clock from 01 to 12, HH is for 24-hour clock from 00 to 23.

For more information, check Custom Date and Time Format Strings

Soner Gönül
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3

try this:

string strTime = "04/30/2013 23:00";
DateTime dtTime;
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(strTime, "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm",  
   System.Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, 
   System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles.None, out dtTime))
 {
    Console.WriteLine(dtTime);
 }
Mohammad Arshad Alam
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2

This can also be the problem if your string is 6/15/2019. DateTime Parse expects it to be 06/15/2019.

So first split it by slash 

var dateParts = "6/15/2019"
var month = dateParts[0].PadLeft(2, '0');
var day = dateParts[1].PadLeft(2, '0');
var year = dateParts[2] 


var properFormat = month + "/" +day +"/" + year;

Now you can use DateTime.Parse(properFormat, "MM/dd/yyyy"). It is very strange but this is only thing working for me.

Manjay_TBAG
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1

change the culture and try out like this might work for you 

string[] formats= { "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm" }
var dateTime = DateTime.ParseExact("04/30/2013 23:00", 
     formats, new CultureInfo("en-US"), DateTimeStyles.None);

Check for details : DateTime.ParseExact Method (String, String[], IFormatProvider, DateTimeStyles)

Pranay Rana
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1
DateTime dt1 = DateTime.ParseExact([YourDate], "dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss",  
                                           CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

Note the use of HH (24-hour clock) rather than hh (12-hour clock), and the use of InvariantCulture because some cultures use separators other than slash.

For example, if the culture is de-DE, the format "dd/MM/yyyy" would expect period as a separator (31.01.2011).

Diorrini11
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0

Below code worked for me:

string _stDate = Convert.ToDateTime(DateTime.Today.AddMonths(-12)).ToString("MM/dd/yyyy");
String format ="MM/dd/yyyy";
IFormatProvider culture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("fr-FR", true);
DateTime _Startdate = DateTime.ParseExact(_stDate, format, culture);
Anjan Kant
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0

You may use this type format (get formatted data from sql server)

FORMAT(convert(datetime,'16/04/2018 10:52:20',103),'dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss', 'en-us')

CONVERT(VARCHAR,convert(datetime,'16/04/2018 10:52:20',103), 120)

yogesh lodha
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0

I have created an extension method that I use everytime

    public static DateTime? ToDateTime(this string dateTime)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(dateTime))
        {
            return null;
        }

        return DateTimeOffset.ParseExact(dateTime, new string[] { "MMM dd, yyyy", "dd/MM/yyyy", "d/M/yyyy", "dd-MM-yyyy", "d-M-yyyy", "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ", "yyyy-MM-dd" }, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).DateTime;
    }

I have added multiple formats that I encounter in an array and I reuse this method every time, the above method works for the following examples of date:

  • May 23, 2022
  • 5-08-2023
  • 05-08-2023
  • 5/08/2023
  • 05/08/2023
  • 2023-02-01
  • 2023-02-01T12:23:99Z

additionally in c# the answer of @Manjay can also be tried as follows :

    char formatChar = '-';
    if (dateTime.Contains('-'))
    {
        formatChar = '-';
    }

    if (dateTime.Contains('/'))
    {
        formatChar = '/';
    }

    string[] parts = dateTime.Split(formatChar);
    var month = parts[0].PadLeft(2, '0');
    var day = parts[1].PadLeft(2, '0');
    var year = parts[2];
    string properFormattedDate = $"{month}{formatChar}{day}{formatChar}{year}";

    return DateTimeOffset.ParseExact(properFormattedDate, new string[] { "MMM dd, yyyy", "dd/MM/yyyy", "dd-MM-yyyy", "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ", "yyyy-MM-dd" }, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).DateTime;
BNG016
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