C# DateTime parse

last modified July 5, 2023

C# DateTime parse tutorial shows how to convert strings into DateTime objects in C#.

C# DateTime

The DateTime value type represents dates and times with values ranging from 00:00:00 (midnight), January 1, 0001 Anno Domini (Common Era) through 11:59:59 P.M., December 31, 9999 A.D. (C.E.) in the Gregorian calendar.

Parse methods

The DateTime.Parse converts the datetime string into a DateTime. It automatically tries to figure out the datetime format.

The DateTime.ParseExact method converts the specified string representation of a datetime to a DateTime. The datetime string format must match the specified format exactly; otherwise an exception is thrown.

Date & time is culture specific; the methods either use the current culture or accept a specific culture.

C# DateTime.Parse

We use DateTime.Parse to converts datetime strings into DateTime.

Program.cs

string[] dates = { “03/19/2021 07:20:58”, “03/19/2021”, “3/2021”, “3/21”, “4 AM”, “2021-03-19T05:20:12.0000000Z”, “2021-03-19T05:20:12.0000000-05:00”, “Fri, 19 Mar 2021 05:20:12 GMT”, “2021-03-19 05:20:12 -5:00”, };

foreach (var ds in dates) { var dt = DateTime.Parse(ds); Console.WriteLine(dt); }

We have a bunch of datetime strings in an array. We convert them into DateTime objects with DateTime.Parse.

$ dotnet run 3/19/2021 7:20:58 AM 3/19/2021 12:00:00 AM 3/1/2021 12:00:00 AM 3/21/2022 12:00:00 AM 3/24/2022 4:00:00 AM 3/19/2021 6:20:12 AM 3/19/2021 11:20:12 AM 3/19/2021 6:20:12 AM 3/19/2021 11:20:12 AM

C# DateTime.ParseExact

With DateTime.ParseExact, we explicitly specify the format of the datetime string.

Program.cs

using System.Globalization;

var ds = “Thu Nov 11, 2021”; var dt = DateTime.ParseExact(ds, “ddd MMM dd, yyyy”, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); Console.WriteLine(dt);

var ds2 = “10-22-2015”; var dt2 = DateTime.ParseExact(ds2, “MM-dd-yyyy”, CultureInfo.CurrentCulture); Console.WriteLine(dt2);

The second parameter of the DateTime.ParseExact is the format of the datetime string. The third parameter is the culture.

$ dotnet run 11/11/2021 12:00:00 AM 10/22/2015 12:00:00 AM

C# DateTime FormatException

If the DateTime.Parse method fails, it throws a FormatException.

Program.cs

string ds = “11/31/2021”;

try { DateTime dt = DateTime.Parse(ds); Console.WriteLine($"{dt:d MMMM, yyyy}"); } catch (FormatException e) { Console.WriteLine(“failed to parse string”); Console.WriteLine(e); }

In the example, we handle a FormatException.

$ dotnet run failed to parse string System.FormatException: String ‘11/31/2021’ was not recognized as a valid DateTime. …

C# DateTime.TryParse

The DateTime.TryParse method converts the specified datetime string into DateTime. It returns a boolean value that indicates whether the conversion succeeded. It parses the string into its parameter.

Program.cs

string ds = “11/31/2021”;

DateTime dt; var ok = DateTime.TryParse(ds, out dt);

if (ok) { Console.WriteLine($"{dt:d MMMM, yyyy}"); } else { Console.WriteLine(“failed to parse datetime string”); }

In the example, we try to parse a datetime string. If the methods succeeds, we print the parsed object; otherwise, we print an error message that it failed.

C# DateTime.Parse with CultureInfo

Dates and times are culture specific. We need to pass the culture information to the parsing methods in case of non-default culture used.

Program.cs

using System.Globalization;

string[] dates = { “piatok 12. novembra 2021 8:34:10”, “12. 11. 2021”, “pi, 12 nov 2021”, };

var skSk = new CultureInfo(“sk-SK”); CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = skSk;

foreach (var ds in dates) { var dt = DateTime.Parse(ds, skSk); Console.WriteLine(dt); }

In the example, we parse three dates written in Slovak culture. The culture is passed as the second parameter of the DateTime.Parse method.

$ dotnet run 12. 11. 2021 8:34:10 12. 11. 2021 0:00:00 12. 11. 2021 0:00:00

C# parse Last-Modified header value

The Last-Modified response HTTP header contains a datetime when the origin server believes the resource was last modified.

Program.cs

var url = “http://webcode.me”; using var client = new HttpClient(); var res = await client.GetAsync(url);

string lm = res.Content.Headers.GetValues(“Last-Modified”).First(); Console.WriteLine(lm);

var lmd = DateTime.Parse(lm); Console.WriteLine(lmd);

In the example, we parse the Last-Modified header value of an HTTP response.

$ dotnet run Sun, 23 Jan 2022 10:39:25 GMT 1/23/2022 11:39:25 AM

Source

DateTime.Parse method

In this article we have parsed strings into DateTime objects in C#.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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