DateTime.TryParseExact returns false for some string in c#

Question

I am facing an issue in the parsing of the date. I have made following common function.

public static string ConvertedDate(string date)
        {
            if(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(date))
            {
                DateTime returnValue;
                bool flag = DateTime.TryParseExact(date, "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out returnValue);
                return flag ? returnValue.ToString("MM.dd.yyyy") : null;
            }
            else
            {
                return null;
            }
        }

But very strange thing happens some strings are successfully converted into DateTime but some return false.

For example :

"2017-05-11 12:00:24" this string parse successfully.

"2015-03-06 20:18:42" this string can not.

The format of the string is same.

I observed that when "hour(hh)" goes above 12 then it cannot be parsed.

Your observation should tell you something...perhaps that is not the right format? — Ňɏssa Pøngjǣrdenlarp, Oct 25 '17 at 23:43
See format [format specifier documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/custom-date-and-time-format-strings). — Serge, Oct 25 '17 at 23:54

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 25 '17 at 23:46

7

You need to change yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss to yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss, which is hours in 24 hour time. Note the change from hh to HH.

See here: C# DateTime to "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" format

answered Oct 25 '17 at 23:46

Greg the Incredulous

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DateTime.TryParseExact returns false for some string in c#

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