Is there a way to Parse String to DateTime, when the string comes with different formats [duplicate]

Question

I am working on building a console application which read a .csv file and add the values to the database. now i have some CSV columns which store date time values. But those column sometimes contain the datatime with seconds while sometimes it does not. here is a sample of some data for the date field:-

03/30/2016 10:55:49
04/01/2016 11:02

now when i try to parse the above string into a date-time as follow:-

formattedDateCreated = DateTime.ParseExact(fields[DateCreatedIndex], "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);

i will get the following exception when i try to parse the second date :-

String was not recognized as a valid DateTime

so can anyone advice on this please? how i can make my Parse more dynamic to work on date formats with seconds or without seconds?? Thanks

The second parameter of ParseExact (the format) could be also an array of formats — Steve
– Steve, Commented Oct 5, 2017 at 15:16

Tim Schmelter · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-05 15:17:01Z

3

You can use the overload that supports multiple formats:

string[] formats = {"MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss", "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm" };
DateTime formattedDateCreated = DateTime.ParseExact(fields[DateCreatedIndex], formats, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None);

answered Oct 5, 2017 at 15:17

Tim Schmelter

462k79 gold badges719 silver badges980 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

John John Over a year ago

and will it apply them in order, or it will chose the best match ?

Tim Schmelter Over a year ago

@johnG: first match wins, so i would use default format first and better avoid formats like MM/dd + dd/MM, otherwise you might get no exception but an incorrect DateTime. If you want to see the source

Xiaoy312 · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-05 15:17:24Z

2

DateTime.ParseExact can also takes multiple formats:

var formats = new []
{
    "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss",
    "MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm"
};
var dates = "03/30/2016 10:55:49;04/01/2016 11:02".Split(';')
    .Select(x => DateTime.ParseExact(x, formats, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None));

answered Oct 5, 2017 at 15:17

Xiaoy312

14.5k1 gold badge35 silver badges45 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Is there a way to Parse String to DateTime, when the string comes with different formats [duplicate]

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Linked

Related