How to convert DateTime to/from specific string format (both ways, e.g. given Format is "yyyyMMdd")?

Question

I am having a problem converting a datetime which is in string format but I am not able to convert it using "yyyyMMdd" format.

My code is:

string tpoc = refSubClaim.BenefitsFolder.BenefitFolderIdNumber.ToString();
string[] tpocinfo = Regex.Split(tpoc,";");

for (int i = 0; i < tpocinfo.Length; i++)
{
    switch (i)
    {
        case 0:
        {
            string[] tpoc2 = Regex.Split(tpocinfo[0], ",");
            claimantAuxillaryRecord.TPOCDate2 = tpoc2[0].ToString();
            claimantAuxillaryRecord.TPOCAmount2 = Convert.ToDecimal(tpoc2[1]);
            claimantAuxillaryRecord.FundingDelayedBeyondTPOCStartDate2 = tpoc2[2].ToString();
        }
        break;

And what's the relevance of your code snippet to the question? — Darin Dimitrov
– Darin Dimitrov, Commented Aug 13, 2010 at 14:24
I'm a little unclear; are you working with a string representation of a date, or a DateTime object? Assuming it's a DateTime object you can just call obj.ToString("yyyyMMdd"); — Nathan Taylor
– Nathan Taylor, Commented Aug 13, 2010 at 14:24
Actually TPOCDate2 is already a variable and i just want to convert the elemnts in tpoc2[0] to be in the yyyyMMdd format. Hope this answers your question — Ashutosh
– Ashutosh, Commented Aug 13, 2010 at 14:57
possible duplicate of What's the simplest way to format a .NET DateTime according to YYYYMMDD or the like? — John Conde
– John Conde, Commented Jul 28, 2012 at 16:37

Pang · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-01 03:28:55Z

244

If you have a date in a string with the format "ddMMyyyy" and want to convert it to "yyyyMMdd", you could do it like this:

DateTime dt = DateTime.ParseExact(dateString, "ddMMyyyy", 
                                  CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
dt.ToString("yyyyMMdd");

edited Nov 1, 2024 at 3:28

Pang

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answered Aug 13, 2010 at 14:30

Falle1234

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1 Comment

DJ' Over a year ago

Got stuck with your code, this one worked well DateTime.TryParse(stringValue, out outputInDateTime);

Pang · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-01 03:31:59Z

67

Parsing DateTime:

To parse a DateTime, use one of the following methods:

Alternatively, you may use the try-parse pattern:

Read more about Custom Date and Time Format Strings.

Converting DateTime to a string:

To return a DateTime as a string in "yyyyMMdd" format, you may use the ToString method.

Code snippet example: string date = DateTime.ToString("yyyyMMdd");
Note upper-cased M's refer to months and lower-cased m's to minutes.

Your case:

In your case, assuming you don't want to handle the scenario when the date is a different format or missing, it would be most convenient to use ParseExact:

string dateToParse = "20170506";
DateTime parsedDate = DateTime.ParseExact(dateToParse, 
                                          "yyyyMMdd",
                                          CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

edited Nov 1, 2024 at 3:31

Pang

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answered Aug 13, 2010 at 14:24

Dariusz Woźniak

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1 Comment

user416527 Over a year ago

This is an old topic, but for those searching, the link above, "culture-specific format" is now a dead link. Here is one that is current and informative Custom Date and Time Format Strings

SLaks · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-13 14:24:32Z

43

You can convert your string to a DateTime value like this:

DateTime date = DateTime.Parse(something);

You can convert a DateTime value to a formatted string like this:

date.ToString("yyyyMMdd");

answered Aug 13, 2010 at 14:24

SLaks

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Comments

Mustafa Özçetin · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-17 08:25:55Z

13

If you want to have DATE as string with TIME as well. We can do like this:

// Date and Time is taking as current system Date-Time    
DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd-HHmmss");

edited Sep 17, 2024 at 8:25

Mustafa Özçetin

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answered Jul 29, 2015 at 6:56

Anish

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1 Comment

user4622594 Over a year ago

minutes shoulde be small "m" !? "yyyyMMdd-HHmmss"

kleopatra · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-17 13:04:37Z

11

String to yyyy-MM-dd date format: Example:

TxtCalStDate.Text = Convert.ToDateTime(objItem["StartDate"]).ToString("yyyy/MM/dd");

edited Feb 17, 2013 at 13:04

kleopatra

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answered Feb 17, 2013 at 12:58

NSiva

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Comments

Mustafa Özçetin · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-17 08:28:17Z

6

Use DateTime.TryParseExact() if you want to match against a specific date format

string format = "yyyyMMdd"; 
DateTime dateTime;
DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, format, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                                           DateTimeStyles.None, out dateTime);

edited Sep 17, 2024 at 8:28

Mustafa Özçetin

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answered Apr 19, 2013 at 18:07

Mudassir Hasan

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Comments

peter · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-13 14:35:59Z

5

You could use DateTime.TryParse() instead of DateTime.Parse().
With TryParse() you have a return value if it was successful and with Parse() you have to handle an exception

answered Aug 13, 2010 at 14:35

peter

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Comments

Prashant-Systematix · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-31 12:28:27Z

5

Simply just do in this way.

string yourFormat = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd");

Happy coding :)

answered Jan 31, 2017 at 12:28

Prashant-Systematix

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Comments

Chiragkumar Thakar · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-26 13:37:50Z

4

It's the Simple way to convert to format

 DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd");

edited Sep 26, 2016 at 13:37

Chiragkumar Thakar

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answered Jul 26, 2016 at 12:56

manoj kumar

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Comments

SergioMSCosta · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-28 11:03:30Z

3

no its a string with yyyy/mm/dd and i need it in yyyyMMdd format

If you only need to remove the slashes from a string don't you just replace them?

Example:

myDateString = "2013/03/28";
myDateString = myDateString.Replace("/", "");

myDateString should now be "20130328".

Less of an overkill :)

answered Mar 28, 2013 at 11:03

SergioMSCosta

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Comments

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-16 21:03:53Z

2

Based on the property names it looks like you are trying to convert a string to a date by assignment:

claimantAuxillaryRecord.TPOCDate2 = tpoc2[0].ToString();

It is probably due to the current UI culture and therefore it cannot interpret the date string correctly when assigned.

edited Nov 16, 2015 at 21:03

Matt

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answered Aug 13, 2010 at 14:25

Peter

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3 Comments

Ashutosh Over a year ago

no its a string with yyyy/mm/dd and i need it in yyyyMMdd format

Ashutosh Over a year ago

and while doing claimantAuxillaryRecord.TPOCDate2 = tpoc2[0].ToString("yyyyMMdd"); it gives some build errors. The best overloaded method match for 'string.ToString(System.IFormatProvider)' has some invalid arguements

Peter Over a year ago

@Matt - really? You edited a 4+ year response that wasn't even marked as the answer to add a tab? That's a serious bad case of OCD you've got there.

ben alfasi · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-15 11:53:19Z

2

From C# 6:

var dateTimeUtcAsString = $"{DateTime.UtcNow:o}";

The result will be: "2019-01-15T11:46:33.2752667Z"

answered Jan 15, 2019 at 11:53

ben alfasi

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Comments

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-16 21:04:02Z

0

A more simple way I came across while searching for this answer as well;

string date = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"));

edited Nov 16, 2015 at 21:04

Matt

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answered Jan 30, 2014 at 16:48

Enrique Ortiz Sánchez

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1 Comment

WTFZane Over a year ago

How about I have a value for DateTime? Like DateTime newDate = DateTime.Parse(Session["date"].ToString());?

A. Zalonis · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-21 15:36:37Z

0

You can try these codes

claimantAuxillaryRecord.TPOCDate2  = Convert.ToDateTime(tpoc2[0]).ToString("yyyyMMdd");

Or

claimantAuxillaryRecord.TPOCDate2 = Convert.ToDateTime(tpoc2[0]).ToString("yyyyMMdd hh:mm:ss");

answered Sep 21, 2016 at 15:36

A. Zalonis

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1 Comment

Koshera Over a year ago

For the love of god (our lord savior Harambe), never use Convert.ToDateTime... This thing is so slow (~100ms)! Just use ParseExact or TryParse - waaaaay faster!!!

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