How do I parse an unusual date string

Question

Hello I have an unusual date format that I would like to parse into a DateTime object

string date ="20101121";  // 2010-11-21
string time ="13:11:41:  //HH:mm:ss

I would like to use DateTime.Tryparse() but I cant seem to get started on this.

Thanks for any help.

Is the date allways having the same number of characters, i mean, the month and day are allways 2 digit long? — SubniC
– SubniC, Commented Nov 21, 2010 at 16:30

spolto · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-21 16:50:44Z

9

string date ="20101121"; // 2010-11-21
string time ="13:11:41"; //HH:mm:ss

DateTime value;

if (DateTime.TryParseExact(
    date + time,
    "yyyyMMddHH':'mm':'ss", 
    new CultureInfo("en-US"),
    System.Globalization.DateTimeStyles.None,
    out value))
{
    Console.Write(value.ToString());
}
else
{
    Console.Write("Date parse failed!");
}

Edit: Wrapped the time separator token in single quotes as per Frédéric's comment

edited Nov 21, 2010 at 16:50

answered Nov 21, 2010 at 16:36

spolto

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1 Comment

Frédéric Hamidi Over a year ago

beware of the : character in date/time format strings: it's the time separator token and it can surprise you, e.g. by resolving to the . character in Italian locales. You might want to wrap it inside single quotes to escape it and avoid trouble later on :)

Frédéric Hamidi · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-21 17:09:13Z

5

You can use the DateTime.TryParseExact() static method with a custom format:

using System.Globalization;

string date = "20101121"; // 2010-11-21
string time = "13:11:41"; // HH:mm:ss

DateTime convertedDateTime;
bool conversionSucceeded = DateTime.TryParseExact(date + time,
    "yyyyMMddHH':'mm':'ss", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
    DateTimeStyles.None, out convertedDateTime);

edited Nov 21, 2010 at 17:09

answered Nov 21, 2010 at 16:38

Frédéric Hamidi

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Comments

Ilia G · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-21 16:30:06Z

3

DateTime.TryParseExact()

answered Nov 21, 2010 at 16:30

Ilia G

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